It's an off-year for elections; the one after a Presidential election, and those tend to have low turnout. There are some races of importance. Those have oft been noted (and local races matter more than most think).
I'm seeing Nov. 4 as a potential bellwether; a tipping point. At least, I hope it will be. Trump and his "I can do whatever I want, on any pretext" has to come to an end.
Thousands of elections are taking place all over the country this coming Tuesday -- local bond initiatives, school boards, judgeships, ballot referenda, critical redistricting issues, not to mention two gubernatorial races. Praying that people put their ballots where their protests and mouths are. Way past time to reclaim our republic back from these "careless people who smash things" condemning others to clean up their messes.
Who would ever have thought that a president of our United States could so easily get away with "usurping Congress's authority" over anything he wanted to do?
I guess I just took for granted that the constitution would always stand and that politicians would never cave to a president whose goal is to destroy the wise words of the founders. I also took for granted that the citizens of America would never accept and support someone so cruel and heartless like Donald J. Trump. Boy was I wrong.
Our Founders never thought Congress would so willingly give up its authority.
They knew an uneducated population swayed by demagoguery might put a scumbag into the Presidency, but they counted on the other levers of power to hold him in check and take steps against him when he violated the Constitution. That was the main reason to have an indirect Electoral College in the first place where states, rather than the federal government 'chose the manner of elections.'
Fear and hate are among the most powerful human forces, and right now they're driving our politics in dangerous ways. Look at the Republicans in Congress: they're paralyzed. Many know what's happening is wrong, but they're terrified of the consequences if they speak up.
It's not just about losing a primary or their seat. They fear for their safety, their families, the violent backlash from their own base. So they stay silent. They rationalize. They tell themselves they're being "strategic" or "picking their battles."
But let's call it what it is: cowardice.
These are people who swore an oath to the Constitution, yet they won't stand up to protect it because they're more afraid of one man and his followers than they are of betraying their duty. They sit on their hands while democratic norms crumble, offering painful excuses that convince no one—least of all themselves.
The real tragedy is that their fear enables exactly what they claim to oppose. Every silence is permission. Every rationalization is complicity. And history will remember who had the courage to stand and who chose to cower.
I will write it again. Mike Howdy Doody Johnson go back to Washington and do your job! Swear in Adelita Grijalva, release the legal funds to SNAP and negotiate with Democrats about ACA funding! Release the Epstein files !
Paralyzed by fear of losing “the gig job” and power or fearful as threats to harm? I don’t trust that DJT isn’t using mob threats just like his casino hustle dark days. He is the most corrupt gadfly that loves threats and extortions to get his way.
Let's call it what it is, cowardice. These are people who swore an oath to the Constitution, yet they won't stand up to protect it because they're more afraid of one man and his followers than they are of betraying their duty.
The real tragedy is that their fear enables exactly what they claim to oppose. Every silence is permission. Every rationalization is complicity. And history will remember who had the courage to stand and who chose to cower.
I hope you don't mind. I did a little cut and paste and sent this to my Rep, tom emmer. I post it here for anyone else to do the same with their Rep.
Harvey - I believe you give them too much credit. Cowardice implies that they know it is wrong but are not willing to do anything about it. That their heart might be in the right place. No, I maintain most of them know exactly what they are doing and are doing so with conviction. My reps as an example - Senator Marsha Blackburn, Senator Bill Hagerty, Rep David Kustoff. I see no indication what-so-ever that any of these three sorry excuses for human beings have any remorse at all. I think they are in on the Project 2025 plan and all that entails. I also believe they think their electorate is behind them. And the voting record here suggests they are right.
Do not wait for these people to have a come-to-jesus moment, and grow some cojones. I firmly believe that is not going to happen. Their hatred of all things progressive is that strong.
Harvey, EVERYTHING you say is TRUE. Cowards, every one, living in fear. Daily betraying every one of their constituents. Especially Johnson, coming from one of the poorest states in America, he has no shame. Every silence is permission. Every rationalization is complicity should be the mantra of every American, every day. Fascism will survive if this is not internalized. Thanks for This!
They impermissibly have let an idea of corporate authority and “a business man” capitalistic ethos drive their irresponsible actions to their duty.
They hate the government they serve and take money and benefits from us tax payers. They do not want to act as the Constitutional government if it gets in the way of THEIR money making dreams.
The founders thought congress would disagree about what to do with money. They didn’t think the majority in congress would disregard readily observable and therefore irrefutable evidence. If we are different than them, then it is because we don't disregard — and instead we consider — the evidence.
We are different because we believe in the Constitutional government.
They have violated their oaths to twist the Constitution into some Capitalistic, business enterprise model with DJT as the CEO. Prove me wrong that the gop Congress are acting like corporate VPs vs co-equal, coordinate branches of Government.
Their duties are spelled out in the Constitution and they ignore it to become subsumed by the unilateral illegal acts of one branch.
the elitists money backed many elections over the years owe who want to destroy democracy into many current MAGA congressional positions, One of the worst travesties was allowing men of such poor character onto the Supreme Court, The Court has been instrumental in usurping power from .Congress and giving it to the president and to the rich, We have Suoreme .court judges bought and paid for by billionaires that think corporations and not governments should rule the world. these corporate leaders who believe empathy is the downfall of western civilization all carry diagnosable antisocial disorders, yet we have glorified them because they made a lot of money, Not just as a country, but as a species, we are in extreme danger,
"Yesterday I wrote that President Donald J. Trump’s celebration of his new marble bathroom in the White House was so tone deaf at a time when federal employees are working without pay, furloughed workers are taking...." This year is off year. Why do polls show some 40% of voters support Trump? Are they only interested in making America a country of white male first class the rest second?
Karen, you never thought that hate would permeate so many that they would fall inline with a dictator. Our whole system of government was setup to prevent a king/dictator. That depended on elected representatives that would abide by their sworn oath to the Constitution.
They don’t fear for their jobs and threat of prosecution by the law - yet. May Tuesday show otherwise that “We the People” are the power that giveth and taketh away through voting.
It is why they want to skew or tarnish voting rights. They don’t want voter’s condemnation and are trying to risk it all by throwing our Constitution into peril to serve themselves exclusively. Big money wants to buy the government.
There are 52,000 offices up for re-election this Tuesday? Unhappy with your elected people? Begin now, from the ground up, to replace them all. We outnumber them. The power is in our hands. We the People.
Sorry Karen, but I think it's necessary to call the real culpability here, which is the cowardly GOP!! I will agree that it took a good bit for the Dems to get over the shock of loosing, but the are taking a strong stand now while the rTumplicans are hiding in their basements.
Trump is President of the red states. His “country “ is at war with the blue states. When will the people in the red states realize that his actions are hurting them as well?
When inflation keeps getting worse and when food stamps run out.
In the meantime, keep up the support for your D reps and put the pressure on the R reps. Insist that the govt uses emergency funds for food stamps (SNAP). They are trying to win the blame game. Don't let them.
This is not true. No States are warring with each other. We are still the United States of America. It is "We the People" who will prevail-not blue or red State people-all the people.
The central concern of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will. This conflict might be expressed in a number of ways: civilization versus savagery, order versus chaos, reason versus impulse, law versus anarchy, or the broader heading of good versus evil. Throughout the novel, Golding associates the instinct of civilization with good and the instinct of savagery with evil. The conflict between the two instincts is the driving force of the novel, explored through the dissolution of the young English boys’ civilized, moral, disciplined behavior as they accustom themselves to a wild, brutal, barbaric life in the jungle.
I’ve written since 2016 that DJT is still a small, failed, family business guy that will never be happy until he stands atop the trash heap he has created and planted his brand flag.
There is one more contrast to be noted in Trump‘s case. Proper parenting and socialization versus neglect and outright encouragement of narcissistic behavior. We see what Trump’s father by commission and his mother by omission have wrought. Trump is the product not of the savage jungle, but of the civilization that Golding extolled.
Oooh, I don't think his mother's role was omission at all. I think she was a real piece of work in her own right. Not the Nun with compassion but the Nun with the ruler.
Christine, my profession has acquainted me with people from "old money" as well as people with "new money." Without exception, "old money people" are gracious and respectful to everyone, no matter their station in life.
By contrast, "new money people" are arrogant and obnoxious. Their attempts to be kind come across as false and manipulative.
Fred Trump's wealth came to him from his father, a pimp who dabbled in real estate. The Trumps were from "the other side of the tracks." Mary Ann Trump was an uneducated Scottish immigrant who cleaned houses to make ends meet until she met and married Fred. By any account, the Trumps were "new money."
True to form, Mary Ann fancied herself a "queen" and everyone around her, including her children, were her attendants.
In Taylor Caldwell's novel, Testimony of Two Men, Dr. Jonathan Ferrier makes a comment to young Dr. Robert Morgan, recent arrival on the hospital staff, "Illness is a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy."
Immediately after Donald's birth, Mary Ann checked herself into the hospital for a long-term stay, where she enjoyed the devoted attention of the hospital staff for a mysterious condition called hypochondria, which enabled her to avoid the nuisances associated with motherhood. None of the Trump children experienced the warmth of maternal affection.
Pam, we all assumed that swearing an oath to the Constitution actually meant something. Then came the Unitary Executive Theory and figures like Russell Vought, who've made it clear: constitutional constraints are only for those willing to be constrained. They're doing whatever they want—and who's going to stop them?
And let's talk about Congress. Every single member took the same oath. Yet how many are acting like enablers rather than a coequal branch of government? When legislators abandon their constitutional duty to provide oversight and checks on executive power, they're betraying that oath. If they won't defend the Constitution, they need to be replaced by people who will.
We used to call ourselves a nation of laws. But laws only matter when they're enforced—and when violating them carries consequences. Right now, we're watching what happens when enough people prioritize loyalty to a leader over loyalty to democratic principles.
The real tragedy? Millions of Americans either can't see it or don't care. Division and resentment have blinded too many to what's being dismantled right in front of us.
Every word truth Harvey. The question becomes - can anything be done to reverse this not-so-slow developing catastrophe. Increasingly, I am of the opinion that we have been had, by some very sly and morally repugnant people who have abandoned the idea of a democracy, and have studied up on all of this, found the weak spots and loop holes, and used the idiot Trump as a willing trojan horse so to speak to enable the take-over. Russell Vought for instance. Many more - Bannon, Thiel, Musk, etc.
Oh my Pam - were you wrong. So was I. However, I might have less of an excuse than you. I have lived a good portion of my life in states where the worse side of American character is more evident - Tennessee, Georgia being the two most prominent. And I have family in Alabama and Louisiana. It is in these states where deep rooted racism and mysogyny and anti-intellectualism are the most common, in my experience. It is in these states where the "bully" is more common. No state in the union is free of such behavior and immorality, for sure. But I maintain it is more prevalent in the red states. I should have imagined more fully what happens to our country when the "deplorables" get to take over. The "triple Trumpers". So none of us should be surprised that such an element exists in our great country.
What is surprising, and should be to all, is that one major political party places winning "Uber Alles" to the point where it freely gives up its power to a lawless and mentally compromised ex-reality show star and failed New York real estate mogul. And that enough other Americans (other than the above described "deplorables") were stupid enough to vote for this guy in 2024. Great country?
I was so wrong x 2 also that voters would elect Trump . From Trumps first election on, besides when Joe Biden was elected in 2020, my faith in the voters of this country was shattered.
The GOP under Biden became neofascist. It's time for us to deal with that fact, rather than imagining that this would be Trump's doing. Trump is merely their clown-in-chief, keeping us scotched to our screens (the only reason why they keep him out of jail) while they can implement, step by step, their roadmap to turn the US into a full-fledged fascist regime.
We could not have imagined. Some prior presidents have been less than savory and damaging in many ways, however they were pretty much small potatoes compared to DT, all things considered. Even Nixon did a little bit of good, and did not destroy our country, or the White House.
Who would have thought the SCOTUS would ever be so corrupted, money would be tconsidered by courts as the same as speech, the U.S. Government would participate in another genocide. (Remember the Native American demise) or a convicted pedophile. would end up in the White House instead of under some prison, claiming he is improving improving the country by bulldozing the East Wing!
"For what it is worth" - Buffalo Springfield 1966 "somethings happening here . . . ."
What it is should be clear to everyone! "There is a man with a gun over there telling us we need to beware . . . .! - Well Screw Trump and his cultists!
Unite and resist or perish, Defiance to Death! War Pigs beware.
Pam carry on and never let these morons see you sweat! Beside a good many folks other than you needed to vote this SOB into office. VOTE like your life depends on it!
This has been going on since Nixon and really took hold of under Reagan. With Nixon it was criminal. With Reagan it is the beginning of “ business as usual “.
If you have noted....anyone that has disagreed with him he invites to Mar A Creepo. Those people come back with a whole new attitude. He either bribes them with money or has obtained something bad on them to get them in line! He is a mob boss! He learned from the best. Then the billionaires have made him richer! Many of those around him were friends of Mr. Epstein! Someday the truth will come out!!!!!
Yes, this is not out of the range of possibilities...his game is to create deep fear in the population so they will do as they are told. He has already sent the military to shoot rubber bullets at innocent people - it's not a big step to go further. Don't forget, he says he HATES the people who don't fully support him!! And is, in fact, going after them!
He hates all American people--even the ones who voted for him. How else do you explain his post-No Kings protest video with a plane dumping feces on the American people. (Got this idea from Anne Applebaum.) Another example. Do you think he loves the cattle ranchers when he decides to start buying beef from Argentina?
I guess that I have succumbed to not being respectful and kind to people who have a differing opinion than I do. But here's a riddle: You know who thinks maga people are smart? maga people. You know who thinks maga people are more stupid than a rock? The entire rest of the world!
How many direct echos of Nixonian actions and corruption, illicit abuse of power are happening now? Russell Vought believes (illegally) that the impoundment control act is Un-Constitutional. Hey, Vought - it is not your decision or beliefs. It is LAW.
Way too many Nixon supporters in the DJT background that want to go back to those corrupt, power rules exclusively days.
Except that local concerns do not always lead to Democratic wins. (For example the frustration of the people where I live is directly directed at Democrats who currently have a monopoly) because they have ignored the will of the people who live here and hopefully will at least lose the mayor’s race. I think the bellwether will be the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey.
And vote in the primaries in 2026? There are many governorships up for election In 2026 as well as the two this week as well.
It's a good time to see if the Fascists have purged your name from the voting roles.
And if you change your affiliation from Democrat to Independent or Republican (I know it's tough to do that), then it's likely you won't be purged again. Plus you may elect a terrible MAGA candidate that has no chance of winning.
I get unwanted and unneccessary snail mail solicitations from the RNC and Republican Congressional Committee constantly and I've been a registered Democrat since God was a boy. Don't let changing your registration to Unaffiliated hold you back, if that's something you want to do.
Hey, talking to you wastes their time and prevents other calls. Chat as long as you can stand it! And snail mail, doorknob fliers, etc. cost the party and/or candidate money. Click on the facebook ads of rightwing interests - that, too, costs them money.
It's Come to This, yes, this is an election year. I do wish people would stop referring to this as an "off-year" too. It is when people don't vote that we get the appalling leaders we now have in the white house, in Congress, and in state legislatures too. It also keeps the people from demanding recounts when things don't seem right when it comes to election results. Every single American citizen aged 18 and older should automatically have the right to vote, not just if Republicans say they can vote, not just if they have the "right" kind of identification, not if they live in the right zip code, not if they have been in prison or not, but every single American citizen. We do know who those citizens are and don't need all kinds of massive paperwork to figure it out. OUr states know who can vote. Automatic registration should happen when a person turns 18, maybe even with a celebration. High schools or communities at large could do that! Make voting the most important thing a young person can do, because it is!
Let him eat cake. Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill are dedicated public servants and veterans. They will help us resist at the state level. The fascists are starving us into submission. My partner and I were fired from our civil service careers. We had to line up at a food bank again, use the same Halloween costumes as last year for our kids, and recycle their candy to give to trick or treaters.
"i'd rather have him eat the broken glass of the smashed glasses from the Gatsby soiree."
I sometimes am amused to think of Trump literally 'bursting with pride' but my bad angel prefers that he live at least l50 years under the conditions he creates for the most vulnerable of us - homeless, impoverished with no support and all paths to self betterment cut off, ill with no access to health care, bullied and in constant terror of abuse by authorities at the whims of the privileged, with no way to protect his children, with no voice, with no protection by government ... in short, as an undesirable under the Republican Reign of Terror and a Republican ChristoFascist state.
It looks like Judy Hennessey has won today's comment like tally! Congrats!
I'm just going to leave this here for you and everyone to ponder:
"In spite of all this nonsense from the left, we are going to win. We're in the process of taking this country back," Roberts said. "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be."
Also: how much bunker can $300,000,000 buy? I'm asking because that's what's really being built under the former East Wing.
11/4 a bellweather? Judy, the Project 2025 government has no intention of leaving power. Ever.
Hello Steven.... Regarding "how much bunker can $300,000,000 buy? I'm asking because that's what's really being built under the former East Wing. "... From 'The Atlantic' 31-OCT-2025: Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth, anddMarco Rubio, are now living on Military Bases".... The Tech Billionaires have built Survival Bunkers... The DoD has instructed the formation National Guard Quick Response Teams to quell Civil Unrest in every State... The USG is shutdown, and there are no immediate plans to reopen it... Does This Sound Good?...
My thoughts too, Steven. None of us can foretell the future, but I’m worried that the bell weather moment was when Americans voted in a majority for Donald J Trump one year ago. One thing is clear: they’ve prepared for this and now they’re moving ahead with their plans. Trump’s antics are diversionary tactics. ‘Follow the money’ tells us more about them than their media activities do.
I thought there already was a bunker of some type, so I looked that up. FDR built it after Pearl Harbor (that’s where Cheney, et al were squirreled away after 9/11 attacks began) and Truman further reinforced it.
There is, and the Cheeto already has used it once. However, it's pretty small and austere, and we know any bunker he deigns to use should be huge and have marble and gold.
Barbara, perhaps you could share what you and your community are doing. Actions are more important than words/lectures. I will go first. Several of us are hosting a mutual aid benefit on November 22 for our community and surrounding areas. It will feature representatives from local social service agencies as well as a distribution of shelf stable food items. Everyone involved is retired with no previous experience planning and hosting a mutual aid benefit but we're learning as we go. We started planning well before the suspension of SNAP benefits and now expect a larger turnout due to people being hungry and in need of support.
There are several blessing boxes throughout the area that are voluntarily stocked by the community. Food items (including pet food), personal care and hygiene items, and fresh produce are available on a regular basis. These boxes supplement the food bank distributions that occur twice a month. The food bank receives stock from the Second Harvest Food Bank that in turn is part of Feeding America. The call was made for individual donations too as the folks who oversee the food distributions are concerned that an increase in customers will deplete resources. Several public areas such as the borough office and the community library are serving as collection points. In addition, some local eateries are displaying Pay It Forward bulletin boards where patrons can purchase prepaid meals for those who need them. My family, along with friends and neighbors, are actively supporting these efforts.
These are just a few of the actions being taken here. Some have been in place for years and others are in response to current events. Hopefully similar actions are being taken everywhere. We are in this together.
As I said earlier the Kentucky Governor has allocated $5 million for food aid. My town has 26 food pantries which are being supported by donations at City wide special events. Local efforts such as individual groups are slow to start. SNAP ended yesterday so I expect more groups to come on line this week. Before the loss of benefits local grocers were giving double the value of a benefit.
Here is a list of practical items
I know that many are trying to find ways to support neighbors facing the likelihood that food stamp benefits will not be paid out at the end of this week. First of all, thank you for being willing to love out loud in this critical and practical way. Secondly, I want to share a few thoughts with you before you stock up on food items to donate to a local food bank.
I helped run a food pantry for many years. Through that work, I learned many lessons about what food donations are most helpful and appreciated by those who come in for food support.
I often talked about the Golden Rule of Donating: "Donate to others as you would hope that others would donate to you if you were in need."
I hope that these lessons help you maximize the impact of your generosity if you feel led to help fill the food security gaps in your community in the coming days and weeks.
(And before it happens... please do not use the comments to shame people for being picky when accessing a food pantry. Everyone deserves to have some agency in their food choices. There are a range of factors that often determine what items are most helpful to individuals, including food allergies, health restrictions, dental health, etc. Ugly comments will be deleted because they are not helpful or productive.)
Things to consider when donating food to a pantry:
* Try to donate pop-top cans, because for many, opening a can may be a barrier.
* For many on the streets, food stamps may be their main source of ability to get food. Often, they do not have access to running water, a microwave, a can opener, a cooktop, or a stove. Items that are packaged in individual servings and ready to eat can be very helpful to them.
* Consider donating canned soups/stews with meat over canned vegetables. They are higher in protein and calories and will be much more filling.
* Protein bars or Meal bars are a good way to increase calories for individuals.
* Donate the Shells and Cheddar macaroni boxes instead of the Kraft or other similar generics. The reason is that Shells and Cheddar do not need extra ingredients like milk or butter to make them.
* Bread is always needed and hard to get from a food pantry. Loaves can be frozen and stored.
* Packages of lunch meat are RARE and very appreciated!
* Muffin mixes that only require you to add water are great.
* Tuna and Crackers or Chicken Salad and Crackers are great lunch items.
* Dehydrated meals can be a big blessing for people with reduced cooking capacity.
* Canned meats, especially canned chicken, are a huge blessing!
* Shelf-stable milk or powdered milk is useful and appreciated.
* Fresh fruits are a huge treat!
* Bags of potatoes are a great donation because they can be used in many ways for meals and ingredients.
* Bags of dried beans are often not popular, as many people do not know how to cook them. However, canned beans are utilized more frequently.
* Powdered mashed potatoes, flavored rice packets, and flavored noodles are always popular donations.
* Boxes of flavored oatmeal packets can be a great, easy way for people to start their day with calories that only need water to prepare.
* Condiments like ketchup, mustard, jelly, mayonnaise, and salad dressing are always popular and appreciated.
* Spices and pantry ingredients like vegetable oil, salt/pepper, flour, sugar, etc... allow people to make baked goods or complete recipes.
* If your food pantry accepts frozen items, consider donating items like: frozen lasagnas, frozen dinners, frozen pizzas, frozen meal kits, frozen pot pies, etc…
* Protein Shakes or Meal Replacement shakes can be a good source of nutrition for those who are struggling with calorie intake.
** Updating below to add some thoughts created from the comments **
* When possible, do not donate items in glass containers as they can often break when volunteers are packing or unpacking bags or boxes.
* Brownie mixes and cake mixes can be a great treat for individuals, especially ones that need limited additional ingredients.
* Many food banks/pantries will also accept and distribute hygiene items. These are a huge help - ESPECIALLY menstrual products!
* Consider also donating cleaning supplies, especially: Dish soap, laundry detergent, and cleaning wipes/sprays.
* Cash donations can be beneficial because they can allow them to get lower rates by buying much-needed items in bulk. You can reach out to the food bank(s) that you often support and ask them for their preference. I was always grateful when donors communicated with us because it allowed us to partner together to make the biggest impact that we could!
* You can purchase and donate P39 military can openers in bulk for pantries/food banks to give out to people who need them. You can find as many as 200 for less than $30.
* If your pantry accepts it, consider donating pet food as well. As people struggle to feed themselves, their pets will be impacted too. We used to buy big bags of pet food in bulk and then break it down into gallon-sized ziplocs to distribute at our pantry.
Founder, Executive Director, Podcast Host at Faith and Trauma Center and works at Pastor at Englewood Christian Church
Hi, Barbara. Thanks for your reply and kudos to you for your activism. The information you're sharing is very helpful and mirrors that shared by my local food bank. Their requests for donations are item specific and hopefully will serve as a guideline for those wanting to help. Our local blessing boxes are not monitored for donations but the community as a whole seems to do a good job of keeping them filled with appropriate items. I agree that cash donations to food banks are always needed and appreciated which is why we donate on a consistent basis.
As for the success of the future mutual aid event, we shall see. There is a big learning curve here but we're planning and hoping for the best. In my opinion, it is better to try and fail than not to try. Thanks again for your kind reply.
I am editing to add that my governor, Josh Shapiro, has been on the forefront of pushing back against Trump. He sued the regime for the withholding of SNAP benefits to PA. recipients.
California seems to have developed a system, Kentucky's Democratic Governor yesterday signed an order allocating 5 million for food assistance. While these are all admirable it is a bitter pill to see the Republicans finally get their way in abdicating the Federal Government's role serving Americans.
However, he is setting up to intimidate voters from going to the polls in "Blue states" by including the national guard.
Also, yesterday I read that Trump has threatened to attack Nigeria to protect "Christians." A ludicrous claim that makes one wonder what the real goal is, it is implied Trump wants their minerals.
So, he is also threatening war and threatening taking over countries (Canada, Greenland) where ever he feels like it, against any country he thinks the US can easily bully.
Russell John, I started calling the MAGA party the New American Nazi Party several years ago, because if it looks like a Nazi and acts like a Nazi and talks like a Nazi, that is what it is. White Supremacists run the country now. It is why I took my brown-skinned self to somewhere else.
Your move is all too understandable, but we need and appreciate your brain, no matter the color of its wrapping. For all its drawbacks, I'm grateful for the internet because we can be involved online. I too am out of the country, but I'll be back in plenty of time for the midterms.
I will return for the midterms if that is the only way to vote. Right now, I cannot travel on a plane because I have thrombosis, so that will be out. I am staying put for the time being until I get a clean bill of health.
I am a member of Democrats Abroad and Indivisible Abroad so I am actively working from abroad to get Americans to vote and to support democracy not just in the US but here where I am living and everywhere. I am working on forming a coalition here of Germans, Americans and others to support democracy. I am heartened by the messages of the Dutch elections. Which is
1) people get tired of living under a right wing government
2) when the progressive party does not shy away from offering solutions to real problems, like housing which everyone should be taking on and I have been saying this since the US election, they can win
I qualified as an American resident overseas and was able to vote online. However, with Doge boys having been or being in charge of government technology given the current efforts to stop voting, I'm not sure that will be available. I'll find a way, though! My German friends keep saying that the U.S. has gone verrückt geworden. I hope your thrombosis is treated successfully—and not only so you can fly.
Bingo. Venezuela is has the largest known oil reserves and Canada has way more than the US. But thanks to climate change we will likely never deplete the oil before the Earth becomes uninhabitable.
GJ in many ways the earth is already becoming uninhabitable for many people. Thus we have the flight north from the southern part of the world, where only the wealthy can afford alterations to accommodate their climate like air conditioning and importing water, or desalinating, or recycling waste water into drinkable water like Namibia does.
Very sad. Apparently Thiel has been trying to purchase a large parcel in South New Zealand to build a "compound town" complete with people that serve his every need. Fortunately, the New Zealand government has given him the middle finger so far.
Have you read Goliath's Curse? It goes into a couple of dozen different ways in which we might lead the Earth into irreversible disaster.
Exactly, GJ - This Venezuela boat thing has NOTHING to do with drugs (other than to fool Americans into a “support” position). This is all about oil! Trump’s Art of the Deal: “I’ll threaten and threaten and even do some damage until you give me what I want.” Trump’s left hand is pointing vigorously toward Maduro while his right hand is doing a ‘gimme gimme’ gesture.” Meanwhile, Chevron is smirking and beginning to count its “payback” from the deal they reached at Mar-a-Lago before the election.
Weeks ago I voted YES on California's redistricting Prop 50. With CA state of the art digital tools, I have been notified my ballot was received, counted & a permanent vote confirmation has been recorded.
As the Great Orange Gatsby, on Halloween, Senior, DC, Judge Coleen Kotelly has granted Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment entering a PERMANENT injunction that prevents Wreck's Election Assistance [not] Commission from implementing the worst provisions of Wreck's purported Executive Order [not] that purported to require proof of citizenship [no]. States run elections not Wreck.
We could all use a little extra time so "Fall Back" in a few hours & sleep in.
Rudyard, that's the response I was trying to compose. I frequently find "pearls of wisdom" and sometimes other stuff. The *real garbage* frequently comes from trolls and bots.
That would hardly be right. The comments are terrific and you would be denying people who can't pay the benefit of those comments and denying us the benefit of their wisdom. Block the bots and the nasties. That way you don't see them.
I don’t support access only to paid subscribers. That would lead to talking only to like minded people. That said, I would hope some prolific trolls and or bots (one notorious one has the initials RS) could be judged persona non grata.
TC, I can't recall ever disagreeing with you, so this is a first. Substack is home to many brilliant and valuable writers, including HCR. Unfortunately, Substack's recommended subscription rates are expensive. If I paid for all my subscriptions, I'd spend thousands of dollars per year. I'm not that wealthy, so on many Substacks, I'm a "lurker." Many times, I'm moved to make a comment, but I'm blocked because I don't pay.
The conversations under HCR's "Letters" are invaluable, I don't know who pays and who doesn't, but I value their contributions. The "block" function exists to eliminate those who waste time and space.
Just to clarify—some of you here are not paid subscribers. Heather always says her content is free, but when I first subscribed, I believe one had to be a paid subscriber to participate in the conversation.
If anyone can comment, I’m gratified we have such thoughtful commenters here!
Ouch! I am working on an Amendment to address our need to fix the holes Trump and the Roberts Court are punching into our Constitution. I am now working on “Section 3" of my First Draft. Section 1 addresses corporate personhood with an all inclusive ERA. Section 2, address gerrymandering and more. Section 3 (a small portion thereof below) addresses some of the problems I feel this letter from our Professor list. We have a power hungry crazy jackass on our hands. We need to stop him and any other future clones of him. So, please read this portion of Section 3 and I look forward to any edits you may have in mind. My Thanks,
No taxation without representation being the central tenet of democracy, In each time zone of the United States of America, on the morning of the first Tuesday in October and continuing though and ending the night of the first Tuesday in November of the year in which the presidential general election would have occurred following the presidential general election after this section is ratified, the process expounded in the Constitution of electors of each State electing the President and Vice President shall be repealed, then, and during those dates every four years thereafter, there shall be an Executive Powers of the United States Election in which citizens of the United States, eighteen years of age or older, shall elect eight executives, and eight vice executives, who shall be vested with executive power of the autonomous executive Office for which they are elected. The eight executives shall be inaugurated the following January 20th, at which time Article II, and Article I, Section 1, clause 3 of this Constitution shall be repealed.
There is much more, for example, Every Appropriations Bill, which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, if it deals with the operations of one of these eight Executive Offices and/or Agencies under their Administration, it shall before it become a Law, be presented to all eight Federal Executive Officers, if the eight Federal Executives approves the Authorization Bill then each shall sign it, but if any Bill shall not be signed by all eight Executive Officers it shall be returned, with Objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, and Congress shall perform such duties as provided by Article I, Section 7, clause 2. On and on...
Here are the eight executives I have in mind.
1, President
2, Treasurer
3, Attorney General
4, Protection General of the Environment and Interior
5, Labor General
6, Health and Human Services General
7, Education General (To establish a minimum level of “American standards.”)
8, Public Services General; conducts the Executive Powers of the United States Election using .
The United States Postal Service, Ballot delivery, collection, and tallying.
United States Census Bureau, Director of the Census.
Federal Election Commission (FEC), six Commissioners.
A good start Albert. I would recommend staggering the 4 year terms and have an election every year. If we were voting on two of those positions this year, the administration would likely be more careful with his lawlessness. The Attorney General should be the people's lawyer and not the President's or the oligarchs. And what about the Defense Department? Do they report to the President?
Staggering the elections with two offices per year is an excellent idea. Your vision of that influencing the other office holders is sounds correct to me also. Part of why I feel there should be a true Federal election by citizens of the USA is to promote a more national identity and maybe even at least a little true unity among We the People as being Americans. The staggering elections idea would perhaps help do that also.
I feel the powers for the office of President of the United States still need to include Commander in Chief and other powerful departments and agencies. I think the President is supposed to be our top Diplomat to the world and to be respected as such by other world leaders. IOW, the President should "Speak softly and carry a big stick," -- President Theodore Roosevelt
United States Department of State,
United States Department of Armed Services (Not WAR Dept.)
United States Department of Agriculture,
United States Department of Commerce,
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development,
United States Department of Transportation,
United States Department of Energy,
United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
I put United States Department of Homeland Security under the Attorney General.
My thanks for your comment. I will work in your idea an election every year and staggering them.
You've obviously given this a lot of thought. I'm just going to throw this out there. Perhaps there could be two Presidents - one that deals with domestic issues and one that deals with foreign policy issues. I understand there is a lot of overlap, but some Presidents are not very adept at foreign issues.
After thinking more about two Presidents I realized the primary issue the Framers had in m ind to solve when they rushed to write the constitution was to create a standing national army for "ensuring domestic tranquility" by defending domestic courts and banks against rebellion. Then also to defend the country from foreign enemies. Thus the question becomes which of the two Presidents would become the Commander in Chief? That brought me to either there be only one President or there three new executives plus the other seven listed above;
Domestic Policy General
Foreign Policy General
Armed Services General (Commander in Chief)
Power to deploy armed forces within a State shall require the request of the Domestic Policy Executive and the State Governor. No State’s armed forces shall be deployed within another State unless by the request of the Domestic Policy Executive and the Governors of those States. Power to use armed forces against an enemy requires a declaration of war from Congress.
That has crossed my mind too. It is one of the irons on the fire. I would like to hear what type of background would you require being necessary to the domestic and foreign President? For example, there must never b e another RFK, Jr., a guy with no education or work experience in Health and Human Services, being in charge of it. Hamilton's Federalist Papers No. 68, suggested that the electoral process of the Constitution was designed to prevent demagogues from gaining power. He felt electors, meeting in their states, would be independent, free from the "sinister bias" of political office and large-scale bribery. Ha! Hamilton never read Citizens United. What might we demand of education and work experience of these diverse executives to keep our nations safe?
The draft language for the proposed amendment will be at the end of a "Memorandum
TO: We the People of the United States
Re: The Assault on Our Constitution, How They Did It, and Our Remedy. "
I will mail a hard copy to every Democrat in Congress. I will create a web page in the hope that people will include it's URL on the signs they take to rallies. The ultimate hope is that people discuss these issues and send letters to their elected officials demanding a national resolve to remedy the constitutional crises created by the corporatist fascist on the Supreme Court; Citizens United, Shelby County v. Holder, etc. In the Memo I discuss what is lacking in the existing amendment proposed by a few Democrats. I.e., it uses language like Congress "...may regulate and impose reasonable viewpoint-neutral limitations on the raising and spending of money..." , "... may regulate and enact systems of public campaign financing..." and finally, "... may distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law..." As I read the word "may," and I am not saying the authors intended this but, I see a major problem. When ever Congress may do something then it leaves open that Congress may not do it. Where many billions of dollars in campaign money is at hand we have already seen what "May" happen. That is the problem.
I feel my language in my Section 1 is stronger, e.g.,
“Section 1, We hold these truths to be self-evident, That all individual persons are endowed with equal non-transferable rights, That to secure these rights the Government of the United States has been granted just powers from the consent of the people, That the United States and every State has no powers to create, grant, or transfer, these rights to any assemblage of individual persons, or personal property, or any private sector enterprises, or anything manufactured, or artificial intelligence, or allow any of such to engage in any form of political expression. All laws and judicial holdings and decisions of the United States and every State inconsistent with this section are hereby repealed. Neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any claim for the loss or repeal of any asserted rights of by any entities listed in this section; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with or deny any of the equal non-transferable rights of individual persons enumerated in this Constitution or disparage other equal non-transferable rights retained by individual persons.”
Notice that the freedom of the press is still protected as it was when the First Amendment was ratified in 1791. Chief Justice John Marshall’s Court in 1801 would never have held the East India Company, which owned those three ships full of tea docked in Boston Harbor in 1773, was a person with equal protection of the laws. If they dared do it then it likely would have resulted with his entire Court being hot tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail by the Sons of Liberty. The “Press” was a printing press run by people like Benjamin Franklin or partners, not corporations. Some papers were sponsored by political parties and that is where the problem should have been nipped with strong language securing democracy of, by and for individuals. IMO, an individual person, or assembly of persons, has the right to petition the government but a petition is to be signed by persons and money is not a petition. I feel that although your ballot should be secret your political press should not. Otherwise how would we know if an enemy like Russia is not poisoning our political debate. With the creation of podcast it will be somewhat like returning to the days of Ben Franklin. Heather Cox Richardson’s podcast corresponding with "Letters from an American," and "Now & Then" are sure a breath of fresh air.
When I first became a manager, I had a personnel issue and I went to my boss to complain about the person. He listened to my complaint and the first question he asked me was, "What is your solution?"
This caught me totally off-gaurd since I expected him to tell me what I should do. I thought about it and we talked through the solution.
After that, I always had a solution in mind when I went to him.
Most of the comments here are thoughtful and many people do offer solutions or provide corroborating evidence to support what Heather says.
GJ, I worked for an executive (and mentor) who had a similar approach. In management meetings, he frequently reminded us, "Do not bring me a problem without bringing me a solution to go with it. If it works, we'll learn from it. If it bombs, we'll learn from it. Either way, I'll support you outside my office."
I was very lucky to have had him as a mentor. Eventually, he fired me, which turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me in my business life. I went on to build my own consulting firm which I wouldn't have done without the push he gave me.
One of his business rules was, "No matter what position someone has in the company, they deserve to be treated with respect." Obviously, a twist on the golden rule, but it hit home with me. I changed it slightly, "treat everyone like you would want to be treated." I never went wrong with that.
GJ, your response reminded me of another feature of my relationship with my "Mentor Number 2." Rather than repeat it here, I'll just share a link to my tribute. You can read about him if you're interested ... or not.
I hope voters recognize WHO has allowed 47 to keep pushing boundaries: congressional Republicans. Since all House members are on the ballot next year, THEY need to pay for what they have not done.
Maybe that's the reason all the House members are being spineless and doing what mike johnson is accomplishing by keeping them from reopening the government and negotiating with the Democrats. That is what tRvmp has demanded and he hasn't and most likely won't give "permission". They know they will not get re-elected in 2026 and are willing to let America go down the road to authoritarianism.
Oh I sincerely doubt they think that. They are not self-aware enough—or maybe not courageous enough—to realize how disgusted constituents are with their spinelessness. They think the party is all powerful and holding on to that power by any means necessary is all that matters.
I’m concerned that our Navy is following illegal orders to kill the people on the ships with absolutely no evidence that they are doing anything illegal and with no approval from Congress. Accountability is non existent
By the time the marble bathroom selfie hit Truth Social, the Republic had already gone full Jazz Age fever dream. Picture it: federal workers pawning wedding rings to pay rent while a former real estate mogul clinks champagne glasses at Mar-a-Lago beneath a gold “Make America Gatsby Again” banner.
It would be funny if it weren’t a live-action history lesson about the collapse of civic conscience. As millions prepared to lose their food benefits, the Commander in Chief waltzed through a party themed after a novel famous for mocking men exactly like him. Fitzgerald, wherever he is, must be hoarse from laughing... https://essayx.substack.com/p/the-great-gatsby-goes-to-war
HCR has so much to wade through to pick what she writes about. I don't think it was an accident that she reported Trump's giving out Schumer's phone number. And Trump was talking about SNAP, meaning that he knows the vulnerability. Calls matter! Call your reps today. Insist that they press for the use of emergency funds for SNAP.
Typically low turnout, but NJ has had very high turnout this time and long lines for early voting for the governor's race, mail-ins have been high too ...crossing my fingers
I am anxious to see what happens with the New York mayoral election. I remember the joy we felt watching Kamala Harris campaign. It was so crushing to watch her defeat. It really felt like she had the momentum going into the Election.
We visited my home state, Montana, a year ago in September. From all the political ads I saw, it seemed like the money and support as well as the qualifications favored the incumbent Democrat senator. The Republican challenging him ran fewer ads. He's a millionaire or billionaire. He didn't offer much information about himself, other than, family man and fiscal responsibility. Yet, the Republican won.
Mamdani is so likable. He's young. He's optimistic and progressive. He's popular. But can he actually win??? Or will it be the same old, worthless and stale politics as usual???
Thank you for this summary, Heather! It’s a compilation of the many ways this administration is continuing to degrade the safety and security of We the People.
Tim Snyder just posted a warning about terrorist attacks. Between Heathers and Tim’s Substack posts, it’s a wonder we’ll be able to sleep tonight! Thank goodness we’ll have an extra hour as we “fall back”. 😉
Kari, I read Snyder's post today and felt bleak because this regime is so reckless and they have destroyed so much that helps keep us safe. I was also reading an article on Patel using the Michigan story which seems not to be true now, to hide his tax-payer funded trips to see his girlfriend and fly both of them back to her place. Nice work if you can get it. So many incompetent and integrity challenged people at the public trough.
I really want to know what a young woman like that is doing with a guy who one look at those crazy eyes, you know to cross the street as he approaches.
I have to say, I am not comfortable commenting on his eyes as I feel that is a bit of a physical handicap. I don’t care for the man, don’t care for his attitude or politics, but feel that physical traits that are not voluntary on the person’s part, are out of bounds. Otherwise, I am like Trump, making fun of people with disabilities. Don’t mean to criticize your comments, people may do what they wish, just felt I needed to mention this.
Definitely incompetent, Michele…and dangerous. It’s hard to imagine an administration stirring up a war to stay in power. We must keep a watchful eye on the interactions with Venezuela. Who knows….
Kari, I think he is dying to drop the bomb and it's better on people who cannot retaliate and are brown. And if the aftermath drifts this way, well the elite probably all have bunkers or silos.
Yes, and high ranking Trump officials have moved into secure military headquarters. People assume that they are afraid of mass protests, but what if they know something about vulnerability to terrorist attacks?
I think the sick and dying truth is why he’s pushing, or being pushed, to escalate quickly so he won’t miss out. Anyone think a malignant narcissist would miss this event?
Marlene, I am sorry to disappoint. I know lots of people who would like to see a death notice. Personally, I want it to be in public, so we all know that it has happened.
It's murder plain and simple. No one is driving an outboard 1000+ miles with a significant amount of drugs and , as heather said, you just shoot the motor not blow up the whole boat. It's not like thwy could shoot back even if they had drugs. It's just another distraction from what he's doing here that happens to MURDER innocent people trying to make a living. But now, who would go fishing if you knew you might be murdered.
I think it was more than that. I think he was seeking revenge on Sadam Hussein for earlier taking a hit out on his father, Bush Senior, I think it was personal.
Meanwhile, a trillion dollars or so later, we sent our military into harm's way for over 20 years until the brave President Biden finally got us out of there.
Yep. All true. Biden fell on his sword to end it and got way too much criticism for not being perfect about it. It was lousy mess, set up by lousy Trump, and the press and much of America took the bait.
Everything Trump gets involved in, leaves emotional and political “stickem “ on it. We need a big vat of Goo Gone with this asshole.
Kari, as I have recently opined, the Trump regime's aggression in Venezuela is intended to provoke a war, for three reasons:
1. Venezuela has some of the richest oil reserves in this hemisphere. Unlike Canada, Venezuela has little means to resist an invasion to take their oil.
2. Due to Donald's hare-brained trade wars, the U.S. economy is collapsing. Historically, wars have boosted a failing U.S. economy.
3. Increased demand for military matériel puts money in the pockets of oligarchs who run companies with military contracts, a win for Donald and his friends.
I think she is pretty young and may be attracted to a guy with a publicly financed government jet to shuttle her around. Personally, he and all of them make me sick.
Snyder always has been a downer. I quit reading him a while ago because of this. I respect that fact that he felt the need to move to Canada. This fact does diminish any opinions he may have about America today. We are in the trenches.
I respect his scholarship and he is very knowledgable on Nazis and eastern Europe. Yes, what he says is hard to read, but he knows the signs and his historical speciality is depressing material. I am not going to stop reading someone because what he says is depressing. That being said, I do not usually read books on modern politics. I have read several of Snyder's however. Also I do not intend to give up.
I did not suggest you or anyone else stop reading him. My comment was an opinion on his writing. I never said you were giving up. Please stop putting words in my writing that aren't there.
Again. I will not follow someone commenting on America at this time who left has left the Country. I will support those voices in America such as Dr. Richardson who are at great risk every day they speak while residing in this Country.
I know what you said and that it is your opinion. I gave you my opinion on his writing and why I will keep reading him as several others on this thread have indicated. You also said you respect his choice to go to Canada and then dissed him for doing so. When I said I was not going to give up, I was agreeing with you that those of us here are in the trenches. That includes the courageous Dr. Richardson and others.
Now I understand thank you. I am not dissing Snyder. I remain respectful of his decision to move to Canada (the timing for is family is a bit odd don't you think) but anyway. I will not support nor will I read his work. He is trying to have it both ways; be a voice in America while not living through the hell here. I simply do not respect that double standard.
Even if he is in Canada, he has been, and still is, a leader in warning us about the real dangers of this administration. He travels to the U.S. regularly to speak or take part in demonstrations.
Snyder didn't move to Canada to get away from the U.S. although I'm sure that's an enormous side benefit! I trust his honesty when he says he moved there related to issues in his family and he explicitly denied political reasons.
There a huge academic brain drain from here to Canada now and he is inadvertently a part of it.
Yes, heart beating fast and blood pressure rising. I fear that too many people will trust in the government. A dictator ploy is to create conditions only he can address.
Tyranny is not allowing the opening of the government the Democrats voted to open the government 13 times under Biden or Moore and now they closed at 13 times under Trump or more. Sounds a little suspicious to me. Lol. Just a little yes, and you will shut up on this topic that’s all it takes
Rick, as if you don't know, Republicans control the House, the Senate and Presidency. If they wanted to open the government they could easily do so w/out a single Democrat's vote. Republicans could also agree to rescind the reduction/elimination of the ACA subsidies that will affect 49M+ Americans. So, please, save us the BS claim that Democrats are preventing the government from opening.
And if they try to circumvent or skirt the issues that Democrats will scream foul from the mountain tops, so please save your holier than thou attitude. Trump breathes and they call foul. And they wait for every opportunity to do so so spare me OK
And as to your other point, Barack Hussein Obama signed the ACA and in the ACA signed by Barack Hussein Obama, the subsidies ended this this December Oooops. That has nothing to do with Republicans whatsoever. It's on Obama supporters who believe the shit he was spewing when he got this bill passed if you'd like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan you can keep your plan and now both the plan it's coverage. It's benefits It's costs are out of control and are only going to get worse so you want to bail out for 14% of the public when everybody else gets nothing. Stop being a partisan hack.
Thank you for posting the link to Timothy Snyder’s open.substack post today. It is a lengthly but important documentation and discussion of the myriad of things Trump and his sycophants are doing to seize power and money and destroy our democracy. I highly recommend it. As he points out a staged, provoked or false flag “terrorist” attack is something to be prepared for in order to deal with it in a rational way. I don’t remember if he pointed out that McVeigh’s bombing killed 20 children - 15 of them were in the American Kids Day Care Center in the Federal building.
I would also like to recommend Timothy Snyder’s video of about a month ago on how the Weimar Republic fell to fascism. As he points out, we have this history to inform us on the playbook of fascists and thus how to resist them that the moderate centrists didn’t have in the 1930s. It’s very informative.
For those who may be unfamiliar with Timothy Snyder: Timothy Snyder is an American historian, a chaired university professor of history who has spent his long career (long before Donald Trump appeared) studying fascism and the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and the Holocaust. He has published about 6 books on these topics including the bestselling “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century” 2017 (ISBN 978-0-8041-9011-4). He is an internationally known and highly respected expert on authoritarianism and fascism. He is a frequently invited lecturer. You can Google his resume:
Exerpt from “On Tyranny”: “The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.” - from “On Tyranny”.
The first caveats in “On Tyranny”: 1. Do not obey in advance; 2. Defend institutions; 3. Beware the one-party rule; 4. Take responsibility for the face of the world; 5. Remember professional ethics; 6. Be wary of paramilitaries; 7. Be reflective if you must be armed; 8. Stand out; 9. Be kind to our language; 10. Believe in truth;……..20. Be as courageous as you can.”
NB: I have no affiliation with Timothy Snyder whatsoever.
Snyder left. There are many, many astute and brave commentators, writers and essayists facing deep and serious threats for speaking out against this Administration who are still living here.
Why don't you? Barbara, if you don't enjoy other people's opinions, you aren't required to interact with them. Please stop pushing your purity standards on others. We are going to see more and more people leaving the US, especially those who are threatened by this regime's policies, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to them because they're "traitors" or "cowards" or whatever it is you seem to be implying.
If you want to popularize a different voice, then do so. You have that ability. Promote different sources; wouldn't that be a much more positive and productive thing than dogging on the sources everyone else seems to follow?
Michelle and I have been having a discussion on Timothy Snyder. Other people have been chiming in as well. It has been a civil discussion with people expressing their opinions. This is what happens in this forum frequently. If you can't handle reasonable disagreements about a topic then don't read the discussion thread.
I have, many times, posted the list of non-legacy sources on this forum. It was compiled by contributions from readers on this forum (from discussing things). You will notice Timothy Snyder is on the list because people like him.
Here is it again.
Raw Story
Katie Phang
Allison Gilal (Muellershewrote)
UnJustified
The Daily Beans
Trilogy Barbara Mullen
Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Anne Applebaum
Robert Reich
Dr. Heather Cox Richardson
Joyce White Vance
Timothy Snell
Timothy Snyder
Meidas Touch
Brian Tyler Cohen
The Contrarian
Ryan Goodman
Simon Rosenberg
The Guardian
Jay Kuo
Lucian Truscott
Olga Lautman's "Unmasking Russia"
Judd Legum's "Public Notice"
Marc Elias's "Democracy Docket"
"Musk Watch" (also Judd Legum)
Dean Blundell
D. Earl Stephens, "Enough Already”
“What Did Trump Do Today”
Elizabeth Graham's "From Democracy to Democracy"
Bill McKibben
Rachael Maddow
The Bulwark
Geddry's Newsletter
This list was put together by readers on Dr. Richardson’s Letters forum. I do not have personal knowledge of all of these entities.
Well, like Fred you’re usually upside down and this post above is no different
And all it takes is one. Yes that’s all it takes and your issue become insignificant once again not that it’s significant now, but it helps. Keep one thing in mind, dear Fred you’re typing to your sycophant. You’re a liberal elitist lemmings Hair kissing each other patting each other on the back. Keep it up. I expect the market to continue to rise under the circumstances. As business ignores your existence.
Possibly not fake but definitely a troll 🧌… locked out and bolted to boot: thanks for the heads up. Some peeps don’t understand quite a lot, including how much cheaper carbs are compared to fresh produce nor how severely stress affects metabolism adversely…among other elements of reality that passes them by…
betsy, interesting observation about food and stress. Right now I am trying to figure out how we can help our garden person who we found out has SNAP. I hope she will agree to let us help her.
I have found that making and canning jam from fresh or frozen fruit and low sugar pectin is a gift that most people appreciate—and I further realized that jams can be made into sauces and marinades to form yummy main dishes … though certainly not everyone has the time or wherewithal to can foods. My point, I guess, is that making help look like a gift from the heart is one way of showing you care
I agree, but this situation calls for more since she has animals including a rabbit and is expecting a vegetarian guest from Germany. We consider her family, so hopefully that will help. We pay her well for her help, but I think we need to help more.
Check my response to Heather above their Betsy. Ask Google what the difference of the weight of an average woman in America and an average woman receiving snap benefits. You will be.’HEAVILY” surprised according to the stat.
Dr. Richardson is a historian who started Letters from an American as an historical account. When I read it in that light I can see history in play. Reading in that perspective gives me hope in this obscene crisis. Dictators have come and gone. We will eventually prevail. We just have to keep at it.
If we were living in ancient Rome or 18th century France, I doubt these monsters would still be around. In WWII the world rescued people from imperial powers. What I see is other powers working around us or using the chaos to advance their own agendas which may include destroying our democracy. What bothers me most is the technology available to the oppressors and the accusation of assault when all people are trying to do is keep from being pushed to the ground or are trying to save their clarinet.
In her 1951 book The Origins of Totalitarianism, she explained that totalitarian systems don’t succeed by ideology but by destroying the ability to think critically. She wrote, "The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction no longer exists."
Arendt's warning was clear: totalitarianism thrives not by persuasion but by confusion and exhaustion, overwhelming people with lies until they give up on knowing what’s real. When truth is blurred, so are concepts like right and wrong, leaving people passive and easy to control. In her later work Truth and Politics, she explored how constant lying erodes the very idea of truth, leading to a breakdown in justice, morality, and dignity.
Arendt’s solution was "thinking"—actively questioning and engaging with information, not just accepting it. She stressed that the moment we stop critically evaluating narratives, even those we agree with, we lose. Totalitarianism starts in cynicism and exhaustion, and Arendt’s warning is more relevant than ever: Guard your capacity to think, demand evidence, and don’t let lies drown out the truth. If you stop caring about what's true, you've already lost everything that matters."
I agree with this. However, I do think that Snyder's narrative is useful simply because he has long studied how all this happened in Germany and eastern Europe. However, i am concerned about the overpowering amount of tech that the oppressors have. This is not cynical or unthinking; it is realistic.
The overpowering of America by technology has had me concerned for years. I believe smartphones have dumbed America down. In addition the media is controlled by the oligarchy who own the technology. People are being massively lied to, manipulated and lobotomized via technology. It is tragic.
But. We are learning. We are seeing the connections and are creating new megaphones, challenging their created realities and planning on a rebirth of Democracy. This is a matter of standing knee deep in shit while feeling optimistic. We will prevail.
As it should concern all of us. I find tech to be a double edged sword, useful in some kinds of research, but terrifying in it ability to keep track of all of us which is one of the reasons DOGE was so bad. And I already loathe A.I. in some ways. I hope you are right.
I just finished prof snyder’s post and I’m glad I didn’t read it before sleep. But I think we all kind of figured the danger(s) we are in for so many reasons
Why are you people are really slow huh? Let me explain something to you really easily. Three magic letters is all it takes three magic letter. Y……E…..S…. And the government is open it’s almost like magic, but it’s so simple that even the it lol just like the commercial
By the way, and I’m gonna tell Betsy below also so she know New statistic just came out weight of an average woman in the United States 145 pounds weight of an average SNAP woman receiving benefits is a 212 pounds. Hmmmmm. Maybe not as urgent as an issue as you might think although it’s tongue in cheek. It’s pretty incredible.
"“They were careless people,” Fitzgerald wrote, “they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”"
The current careless people running our country - especially Trump and his family and regime, the arrogant broligarchs, and the self-righteous right-wing Supreme Court Justices - appear to enjoy destroying things. After all, there's the Rapture to look forward to, or the dictatorship, or the massive profits, or the power, or all of the above.
Please get active with Indivisible.org or other democracy groups. Spread compassion and kindness. Use your voice to help make our country better. We are in this together, and there are more of us than them.
I’m sorry but I disagree. What they did was not just careless. It was diabolical and planned out to destroy our government’s functionality for “We the People”.
Fred, the quote is still apt, if we apply the proper definition of carelessness. Actions can be both diabolically planned and careless. The Miller/Vought regime are absolutely plotting to replace U.S. democracy with a white, theocratic oligarchy. They are careless, not in the sense of being reckless or not paying attention, rather, in the sense of not caring whom is harmed or killed as a result of their actions.
This is certainly a good quote from Fitzgerald’s book and it parallels the actions of this administration; however the things being smashed up in this administration are far more serious than Fitzgerald imagined, and they are illegal. Good to hear from you Laurie of Oregon. You are spot on.
Do you guys ever quote anybody alive? And please do not refer to Paul Krugman or Robert Reich as anyone alive nor Barack Obama who just made a speech apparently that just got recorded that you’d be interested to hear. Today’s society it’s not certain whether things are copied or duped, etc. so I’ll save it till it’s been validated. But you should check it out. It has to do with where Obama was really born.
And Trump blamed everything Biden and his incredibly competent cabinet and staff fixed as being terrible for the country.
Just look at how much better infrastructure is in every state because Buttigieg and the Democrats supported, financed and constructed over 75,000 projects. One of the first things Trump did was to withhold funding for many of these projects that were already in progress.
If anyone mentions any of the Democrats successes and some of his Republican ones, he immediately cancels the program or defunds it no matter who gets hurt.
The OBBBA is full of cancellation of projects and now the Democrats are trying to claw back some of the health care cuts.
The OBBBA is arguably the worst bill ever passed. But Musk, Bezos, Thiel and many of the oligarchs love it.
The irony is that in the end Gatsby learns that ill gotten riches could not buy him love or acceptance into the world of old money aristocracy. Exactly the story of our dear leader. So his own people who set up this party were either really stupid or mocking him… the same way the President of South Korea presented him with a replica of a crown of a “dynasty” that “fell due to economic instability, high taxes and wealth inequality… and ended with a rebellion against the king.”
Spreading compassion and kindness will keep me sane and keep me from becoming like them, Sabine. What will get us out of this is working together strategically and cooperatively, much as Indivisible and other democracy groups advocate.
Laurie, don't let Sabine drag you down to her level. Sabine's entire body of commentary here indicates that she believes she is superior to Americans in every respect and has nothing but utter disdain for us, that we are all weak and stupid. I wouldn't characterize her as a troll, but she is definitely troll-adjacent.
Clearly, you've indicated that you're not a hand-wringing, emotional spectator, but also someone who takes action. Just ... without aggression.
People like Sabine – and Donald – think that's a sign of weakness. They are wrong.
Muskrat was wrong when he said empathy was the downfall of Western Civilization. To be sure, we have many times failed to practice it domestically and abroad, but empathy holds civilizations together. Muskrat has it entirely wrong.
What you don’t realize TC which of course you never realize is, that’s exactly what Trump is doing right now spreading compassion and kindness amongst Americans who will now have job opportunities that pay more than their current job. Because he’s bringing jobs home. Tell your congress people just say yes the government opens snap gets financed and then you can discuss the broken promise that Obama made. That’s right he made a promise in the bill that the subsidies would end December of this year. No one else made that promise just Obama so if you have want someone to blame, blame him.
Yesterday, Billie Eilish donated $11 million or 1/4 of her wealth to feed the hungry. She implored the billionaire class to do the same. Most of them don't even donate 1% of their wealth to charitable causes.
I respect people that are compassionate and kind and I've grown to hate the fucking Fascists running this country because they have few redeeming qualities.
Well, here’s what I suggest to be, and I think you’re gonna like it support the current president and support America and the end result will be exactly what you wanted to be American success. The lowliest of people will be cared for the poorest will be cared for the mentally handicap will be cared for You just have to be a bit more optimistic.
Well, that’s lucky for you, my good Afterbirth, if the mentally handicapped will be cared for you might even have a chance to become a normal boy one day. 😊
Sabine, I’m making perfect sense just pretend it’s not me saying the following
The Republicans are not in control of snap right now. The Democrats are incomplete control of snap. Repeat after me exactly what I just said.
That’s the reality however much you might dislike me or hate me or whatever
All the Democrats have to do is say open the government and voilà. The government is open and snap benefits get sent out doesn’t get any simpler than that and that’s the fact and 100% facts if you wanna deny them you’re punishing your own citizenry
The Dems are not in government, hence they can’t close it down. You are just a complete idiot, that I neither hate nor dislike, I don’t put that much emotional effort in people who are not worth it. It’s not my country, you are one of those who destroy their own country.
But this was again just a bit of a waste of my time, because you’re just too thick to get it.
And the funny part of all this all you have to do is use an Internet search to see that it is very possible for one party to close down the government. But in your laziness, you think you know, but you’re wrong. Can you imagine for a second 1000 Americans come protesting at your government’s main federal building protesting the policies in your country carrying American flags ?!!! This is the epitome of stupidity and ignorance. And I get a kick out of it to be honest with you. You should worry about your country’s insignificance in the world and try to compare to that of the United States of America. Go protest there OK
Well, your poor dear, your ignorance of American government is your undoing. We are not destroying our own country. In fact we are salvaging our own country from the idiot that just left office non compos mentis but thank you for weighing in, but I’m guessing you should probably worry more about your own country not the leader of the free world.
In the meantime, there are two and a half major powers in the world
You are not amongst them. It’s actually a waste of your time being here in the first place. I don’t know why you’re not focusing on the hills and chills of your own country which needs that a lot more than we do.
I totally agree, Laurie, but we also need to turn our thinking around and realize and say out loud, loudly, that the Trump administration is in active revolt against the Constitution. It is they who are the insurrectionists. It is they who are in a state of rebellion.
By the way you should thank the right wing justices as you call them although they’re not. They just did something you should be cheering… they sent abortion back to the voters instead of being decided by nine justices that you happen to like at the time.
Now the voters get to choose rather than partial what do you call them? Self-righteous. Yikes. How fickle we are. That’s called the doing of democracy, not called the undoing of democracy.
I have read The Great Gatsby several times, and each time I liked it less. The quotation that Heather included expresses my feelings about the book and the people it describes, and it's worth posting again here:
“They were careless people,” Fitzgerald wrote, “they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
Gatsby's people were not particularly mean or malicious people. They just didn't regard those outside of their small circle of the rich and greedy as being worth caring about. The didn't see a need to be careful of the damage they did to others.
The "careless" part describes the current regime, but many of those in charge are also particularly mean and malicious. They clearly rejoice in the pain that they cause and the damage that they do. For all of their protestation of being "pro-life," they carelessly approve of the wanton killing of those alleged to be drug dealers. In the past those allegations were investigated through interdicting suspected boats. Now, there seems to be no repercussions for just killing those on the boats. So those leading our country have gone far beyond not caring--they have purposely moved into illegality and immorality.
There is indeed a vast gulf between the vulgar hedonism of the 1920s and today's Trump nihilists. Carelessness and cluelessness just aren't the same as demagogic sociopathy and cruelty. We lack even the right historical comparisons to make. These aren't gilded age tycoons who built things -- they're malicious idiots who fooled millions into thinking they were serious, competent, worthy of trust. I will never be able to figure out how so many were fooled by so much that was literally staring them in the face. You didn't have to be Hercule Poirot to figure out what who these people were or what they would try to do once given power.
Yet the spell is beginning to break all around. Federal attorneys are resigning rather than carry out sham prosecutions, judges are ruling against them, a few Republican Senators are refusing to go along with their sham war in the Caribbean, Democrats are not breaking ranks, and citizens keep documenting their illegalities on our streets.
Even after flooding the zone (and us) with their shit, this wasn't how they imagined things would go. Let's make sure they receive yet another dose of unpleasant reality this coming Tuesday.
I'm here for it, ICTT. Donated. Voted very early in VA. Sent hundreds of postcards for others to do the same. Have signed up as a volunteer at the polls for November 4. And most importantly, if the election does not go my way, plan on being a whiny thorn in the side of any R who wins.
Good on you, Virginia! Thanks for the tip re Nashville. Have been on a pause after Nov. 4 onslaught, but postcarding is an addiction that I cannot say no to!
This current bunch are the ones seeking to be "borne" into that past, a past they have no experience of and thus have not earned a place in or a right to.
In addition to voting, we need to turn our thinking around and realize it is the Trump administration that is in a state of insurrection against the Constitution and against the law. And therefore, I suggest that leaders from all sectors: political leaders, governors, lawyers, union leaders, scientists, education leaders, corporate types, etc, put aside their differences and create a United Front, united in Opposition, speaking out every day, using social media and every other means of articulating Opposition and, together, creating a Strategic Plan to remove the entire Trump abomination. Not unlike what the colonists did some 250 years ago.
Big words bearing no meaning there it’s come to this. Support your president and your country. You know your fellow Americans voted for him to be president. I guess you hate your fellow Americans as well. Not a good place to be.
They were very sad characters just as the ones we are witnessing now. I do think jealousies will occur and feathers will fly. There’s always a crack in the sidewalk. Remember when Watergate happened? Those guys fumbled the ball…bigly! It’s just a matter of time when the house will begin to crumble. I have to believe that.
Marlene, you missed a big example of what you’re saying right now. It was called the Joe Biden administration and your post depicts it perfectly. I couldn’t have said it better myself except this crack was more like a crevass Try to compare what you just said with the Biden administration they did every single thing that you suggest pretty amazing huh?
Eternal payback will be a b---h. I am surprised the UN or someone affiliated hasn't reacted to this unprovoked criminal activity. Or maybe there is some subterranean move pending.
US strikes in Caribbean and Pacific breach international law, says UN ...
1 day agoAirstrikes carried out by the United States against alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific drew 🔻sharp criticism from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday who said they 🔹"violate international human rights law" and must 🔻stop immediately
Jay, did you see this about how Waltz, our rep to Cuba, was interrupted at the UN by the Cuban delegate? It is priceless! Check out this video from this search, the UN speech by Waltz that was interrupted by the Cuban delegatehttps://share.google/HnWhDjMeiNvQVafNI
Thanks for alerting me to that! “This is the U.N. assembly, not a Signal Chat” (paraphrased) YAHOO commenter said in response:
“ The fact that this man is so used to running off at the mouth about Repub agendas and trying to *sound false alarms* about things that don't exist that he would get up in front of the UN and try to do it say volumes about ⚡️how messed up the US government really is.”⚡️
They’re at this point taunting the nation to do something. And they’ve always been like this. “Oh, my ‘I really don’t care, do you?’ jacket? That’s just a jacket. 😏💅”
Some have commented that the Jazz Agers were suffering from a kind of moral PTSD following the global carnage and indiscriminate destruction of the Great War. There is much to that - and having served in France, Fitzgerald knew something of what he wrote. Gatsby and other works he wrote of that period were not celebrations of it. For him, writing about it was a way of trying to come to terms with the personal demons that arose from it. He was not wholly successful in that.
So grateful for your continued diligence and thoughtful commentary, Heather. I send you loads of appreciation and gratitude and warmth for your amazing fortitude.
No one should be surprised by the fact that the convicted felon currently occupying the White House ignores the law - that has been his consistent behavior for many years. Is there any reason to expect a thug to obey any law?
We VOTE, and we do everything we can to help everyone we know also get out and VOTE! And if you’re capable in any way, run for something! The more of OUR people voted into elected office, the more power we have. And if you don’t feel called to run, then be a volunteer, as a poll watcher, or a solicitor. Get active, and involved.
Hey dickhead, there’s an election THIS TUESDAY! And many of us Americans voted early! Only a non-American would make a statement as ignorant as yours, dickhead!
We keep confronting Republicans about their treason and hope a few will regenerate a back bone, join with all the Democrats and impeach this foul creature as the first step in actually draining the swam.
We need to form a national United Front in opposition to Trump. Leaders in all aspects of society need to join together and articulate the unity of the Opposition.
Isaac did you by any chance go to Beach High school? Isaac , here’s a hint if you want to really help your just tell them to vote yes and open the government and you don’t need to help at a food bank or donate food. You still could volunteer to do it, but it won’t be as necessary if you’re idiots in Congress just vote yes and Open the government. Nothing is gonna change until then and you’re gonna keep complaining and whining unless you do.
HEY!!! It's my favorite troll, Rick....whining about people whining in all his adolescent splendor....and providing a good laugh by marrying the words 'you're idiots'....here's a hint, Rickie...doesn't matter what high school you are going to...you sure aren't a happy kid...only someone wounded and hurting would do what you do...enjoy this attention...it's the last you'll be getting from me....you're idiots...man, I just love the irony....
Nikki that’s the best question that has been asked here and let me give you the subtle suggestion. Support your president and support America and things will turn out exactly the way you want them to be, but if you continue to be belligerent and irrational, it’s only gonna get worse for you but not for America.
You don’t need for a president that supports the Jews more than any other president. Recent history should probably be appreciated more than you do. Unless you’re one of those self loathing, self deprecating Jews, like Mandy Patinkin, who is actually supporting Mamdani the person who asked for a Global Antifada .
I wouldn’t be surprised if it were at the President’s direction. Mike Johnson does everything he tells him to do. Trump even referred to himself as President and Speaker. I believe he thinks of Congress as merely an irrelevant irritation and totally unnecessary.
Johnson is ignoring the provisions in the Constitution about calling a recess at Trump’s order. Johnson and Christian Nationalists like him are whited sepulchers.
Join "Indivisible" and your fellow citizens in the streets for NK III Nov. 5, I believe. The last one (Oct 18) was a 7 million + person fiesta of gentle but vociferous reaction to the thuggery going on...
Indivisible needs to use the great platform they have built to increase the number of rallies.. too many months go by between them; we need to have them every week
Morning, Lynell. We have an "every Monday at 10" protest that was organized by a senior living community; they can walk less than 3 blocks to the intersection. I've seen as many as 250 there.
But members of Congress are a different kettle of fish. They are the people these actions are aimed at - to get them to the point where they think voter opposition is going to do them more harm than Trump can do.
What concerns me is that he will try to use the National Guard and the armed services to illegally attack peaceful protestors. He wants not one, but many Kent State type incidents. The effect would be more like Bloody Sunday in 1905:Russia and 1972 Northern Ireland.
Actually it’s not Lori actually Trump has been begging for the Democrats to open the government and all they have to do is find five votes and you might also know that the head of the House of Representatives has also said the same thing so please think before you post.
It is time, the walrus said to speak of many things, of boycotts and work stoppages, of cults and kings. I've heard of s test boycott from black Friday through Cyber Monday. Buy local and let the national chains know that in a consumer society, the consumer does have a say.
Also Trump wants Americans (and others) to BUY his way out of the economic downturn he is creating — so DON’T participate! Shop small local, thrift stores, reduce, reuse, recycle etc.
The consumer had no say when Biden raised Price is 20% did you the consumer had no sales when Biden doubled the gas prices did you the consumer had no say when mortgage rates tripled under Biden did you? The Consumer had no say that because of Biden’s policies inflation went between seven and 9%. Where is your power then?
Support your president and all those things will get repaired
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie the Fed and every other governmental agency post the increase in cost and inflation up 3% this year versus 7 to 9 on the on the Biden side. That's pretty much normal inflation anywhere from 2 to 3% a year. You might want to realize that I believe a year ago or two years ago under Biden Social Security increase was 8%.
I don't know what the hell you're thinking you think you can just stop inflation dead and its track yep, I ams
It would take me a couple paragraphs and I'm in a rush right now, but you are lostMy dear. And by the way, gas prices are down over a dollar .50 a gallon egg prices are down 60% and gasoline helps control all other prices so be patient it only took Joe Joe Biden three months to to do what I mentioned above oooops
Let me cut to the core. The present situation revels that the intent is to establish a CEO-IN-CHIEF and corporate rule with a government as corporation. The primary question I have is what every corporation has to answer "What is the product of the corporation?" If the answer is not a simple sentence, then the people operating the company do not know what their business is. So what should be the business of a government as corporation?
What you just answered here is called obfuscating. The prices that you were suffering right now or a continuation of the administration previous to that and you need to put that in your pipe and smoke it. You ignore gas prices, which are central to the current significance of any society.
And your negative in advance prognostications are exactly that.
This government is running substantially more efficiently than the previous one and many previous ones cutting through red tape to make things happen is not corporation. It is called efficiency. And like most of you liberals today you are some of the most negative pessimistic angry human beings on the planet.
My suggestion would be Support your president and your country and things will turn around instead of fighting needlessly and I'm not saying giving up. I'm saying nothing bad is happening with this country and you continually refuse to answer to fax such as Barack Obama time not to be renewed, but to end, are you familiar with that term?
Subsidies ending is the term terminating gone no more that comes from a Barack Obama no matter how much you would like to blame anyone else
And we're $37 trillion in debt. How do you think we got there by the way one of the most effective presidents and stopping that was Mr. Bill Clinton himself who fired a half 1 million federal employees and deported another 10 million. And stood there on the White House lawn with Al Gore, saying we're spending too much money.
So if your local radical governments stop spending money on illegals and illegal immigration. We would have a lot more money to help remove homelessness, poverty, and possibly bring people back to better health.
In California alone, they've spent in the last three years over $30 billion billion with a B for housing food, shelter, and medical care illegals. And who do you blame on that for?
So place your blame appropriately try supporting this president and things will get better for everyone, including those on snap including those who need subsidy renewal. It will happen but not the way it's happening now.
Your verbose response is like a you are behind the steering wheel of a vehicle travelling at high velocity with the all the windows painted black. Somewhere down the road there will be an unmovable object that will effect rapid declaration. My question to you is do you believe that you have sufficient resources and circumstances to survive the revolution from a government by and for the people to one that excludes everyone but they oligarchs?
This administration started by focusing greed and racism. But now they have moved on to all out war on everyone. They are the party of lies, corruption, suffering, starvation and death. They celebrate these accomplishments with lavish parties supported by those who can bring them gold.
I added a calendar on my spreadsheet so we can target our calls/letters/emails/faxes to flood offices in an organized manner.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Nokings) as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. We deserve better ❤️🩹🤍💙
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Ooooooooooh…. Yeah, you know what the first two impeachments were pretty effective huh the only way they were effective was that somebody had invented disease globally in order to get him out of office otherwise he’d still be there
IMHO, Trump's game plan on SNAP seems to be as follows. No matter what the court orders, he will delay the disbursement of SNAP benefits as long as possible. A lot of seniors and low income people are going to get awfully hungry but to Trump, they're just another "expendable" pawn in the crusade to become King.
Hey idiot all the Democrats have to do is say yes and snap gets back in action. What the hell is the matter with your thinking? Are you doubling down on stupid if the Democrats voted yes snap opens up. The Republicans want it open. Yikes.
But the funniest thing I heard today was a statistic that indicated that the average weight of an American woman is 142 pounds whereas the average weight of a snap recipient woman is over 200 pounds hmmmmm
Hey idiot, all the republicans have to do is agree to provide health care to Americans. For some people, the ability to see a doctor is important! Imagine that, money for health care and less subsidies for billionaires. Stop watching FOX TV moron.
This is what the shutdown is all about. The Epstein Files. Not just finally getting to take away the ACA subsidies or being responsible for the despicable acts of starving our most vulnerable, but not allowing the newly elected Adelita Grijalva from Arizona to be sworn in. She would be the deciding vote to release the files. We all know why they don't want the files released. And, even when the files are finally released, who knows what we will get, redacted, rewritten worthless words?
The OVERALL CONTEXT of the Trump administration is... IGNORE THE LAW... DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO AND LET THEM TRY TO STOP US AFTERWARDS. This is a MIRROR of Trump's life-long psychological illness: He was NEVER held accountable for anything he did (including lying to avoid the Vietnam War draft). Dr Bandy X. Lee is an expert on Trump's psychology. I highly recommend all follow her on Substack to understand why Trump WILL NEVER OBEY ANYONE... unless he knows he will lose money or power by doing so. https://substack.com/@bandyxlee
Well, it appears that we may have arrived. Johnson has ceded the Congress’ rights to appropriate funds, levy tariffs, approve treaties, and now, declare war. How is it that the GOP members of Congress don’t realize they’ve been reduced to rubble, just like the East Wing of the White House?
Stop quoting history and do something. Call your Congress people and say hey if you want to snap people to eat, your party is in control of that. End of sentence.
It's an off-year for elections; the one after a Presidential election, and those tend to have low turnout. There are some races of importance. Those have oft been noted (and local races matter more than most think).
I'm seeing Nov. 4 as a potential bellwether; a tipping point. At least, I hope it will be. Trump and his "I can do whatever I want, on any pretext" has to come to an end.
Thousands of elections are taking place all over the country this coming Tuesday -- local bond initiatives, school boards, judgeships, ballot referenda, critical redistricting issues, not to mention two gubernatorial races. Praying that people put their ballots where their protests and mouths are. Way past time to reclaim our republic back from these "careless people who smash things" condemning others to clean up their messes.
Who would ever have thought that a president of our United States could so easily get away with "usurping Congress's authority" over anything he wanted to do?
I guess I just took for granted that the constitution would always stand and that politicians would never cave to a president whose goal is to destroy the wise words of the founders. I also took for granted that the citizens of America would never accept and support someone so cruel and heartless like Donald J. Trump. Boy was I wrong.
I never thought congress would so willingly give up it's authority.
Our Founders never thought Congress would so willingly give up its authority.
They knew an uneducated population swayed by demagoguery might put a scumbag into the Presidency, but they counted on the other levers of power to hold him in check and take steps against him when he violated the Constitution. That was the main reason to have an indirect Electoral College in the first place where states, rather than the federal government 'chose the manner of elections.'
Fear and hate are among the most powerful human forces, and right now they're driving our politics in dangerous ways. Look at the Republicans in Congress: they're paralyzed. Many know what's happening is wrong, but they're terrified of the consequences if they speak up.
It's not just about losing a primary or their seat. They fear for their safety, their families, the violent backlash from their own base. So they stay silent. They rationalize. They tell themselves they're being "strategic" or "picking their battles."
But let's call it what it is: cowardice.
These are people who swore an oath to the Constitution, yet they won't stand up to protect it because they're more afraid of one man and his followers than they are of betraying their duty. They sit on their hands while democratic norms crumble, offering painful excuses that convince no one—least of all themselves.
The real tragedy is that their fear enables exactly what they claim to oppose. Every silence is permission. Every rationalization is complicity. And history will remember who had the courage to stand and who chose to cower.
I will write it again. Mike Howdy Doody Johnson go back to Washington and do your job! Swear in Adelita Grijalva, release the legal funds to SNAP and negotiate with Democrats about ACA funding! Release the Epstein files !
An oath is only as strong as the character of the people swearing to it.
Paralyzed by fear of losing “the gig job” and power or fearful as threats to harm? I don’t trust that DJT isn’t using mob threats just like his casino hustle dark days. He is the most corrupt gadfly that loves threats and extortions to get his way.
Look at the Republicans in Congress:
Let's call it what it is, cowardice. These are people who swore an oath to the Constitution, yet they won't stand up to protect it because they're more afraid of one man and his followers than they are of betraying their duty.
The real tragedy is that their fear enables exactly what they claim to oppose. Every silence is permission. Every rationalization is complicity. And history will remember who had the courage to stand and who chose to cower.
I hope you don't mind. I did a little cut and paste and sent this to my Rep, tom emmer. I post it here for anyone else to do the same with their Rep.
Enjoy your day!
Harvey - I believe you give them too much credit. Cowardice implies that they know it is wrong but are not willing to do anything about it. That their heart might be in the right place. No, I maintain most of them know exactly what they are doing and are doing so with conviction. My reps as an example - Senator Marsha Blackburn, Senator Bill Hagerty, Rep David Kustoff. I see no indication what-so-ever that any of these three sorry excuses for human beings have any remorse at all. I think they are in on the Project 2025 plan and all that entails. I also believe they think their electorate is behind them. And the voting record here suggests they are right.
Do not wait for these people to have a come-to-jesus moment, and grow some cojones. I firmly believe that is not going to happen. Their hatred of all things progressive is that strong.
Powerfully said! Thank you!!!
No truer words.
Harvey, EVERYTHING you say is TRUE. Cowards, every one, living in fear. Daily betraying every one of their constituents. Especially Johnson, coming from one of the poorest states in America, he has no shame. Every silence is permission. Every rationalization is complicity should be the mantra of every American, every day. Fascism will survive if this is not internalized. Thanks for This!
Harvey, the only thing I see missing is all of the cowards goose- stepping.
They impermissibly have let an idea of corporate authority and “a business man” capitalistic ethos drive their irresponsible actions to their duty.
They hate the government they serve and take money and benefits from us tax payers. They do not want to act as the Constitutional government if it gets in the way of THEIR money making dreams.
Corruption and greed.
Amen Bill.
And the population is becoming educated, by inflation if by nothing else.
The founders thought congress would disagree about what to do with money. They didn’t think the majority in congress would disregard readily observable and therefore irrefutable evidence. If we are different than them, then it is because we don't disregard — and instead we consider — the evidence.
We are different because we believe in the Constitutional government.
They have violated their oaths to twist the Constitution into some Capitalistic, business enterprise model with DJT as the CEO. Prove me wrong that the gop Congress are acting like corporate VPs vs co-equal, coordinate branches of Government.
Their duties are spelled out in the Constitution and they ignore it to become subsumed by the unilateral illegal acts of one branch.
the elitists money backed many elections over the years owe who want to destroy democracy into many current MAGA congressional positions, One of the worst travesties was allowing men of such poor character onto the Supreme Court, The Court has been instrumental in usurping power from .Congress and giving it to the president and to the rich, We have Suoreme .court judges bought and paid for by billionaires that think corporations and not governments should rule the world. these corporate leaders who believe empathy is the downfall of western civilization all carry diagnosable antisocial disorders, yet we have glorified them because they made a lot of money, Not just as a country, but as a species, we are in extreme danger,
"Yesterday I wrote that President Donald J. Trump’s celebration of his new marble bathroom in the White House was so tone deaf at a time when federal employees are working without pay, furloughed workers are taking...." This year is off year. Why do polls show some 40% of voters support Trump? Are they only interested in making America a country of white male first class the rest second?
They're just STUPID & deaf to reality Hiro.
Karen, you never thought that hate would permeate so many that they would fall inline with a dictator. Our whole system of government was setup to prevent a king/dictator. That depended on elected representatives that would abide by their sworn oath to the Constitution.
They don’t fear for their jobs and threat of prosecution by the law - yet. May Tuesday show otherwise that “We the People” are the power that giveth and taketh away through voting.
It is why they want to skew or tarnish voting rights. They don’t want voter’s condemnation and are trying to risk it all by throwing our Constitution into peril to serve themselves exclusively. Big money wants to buy the government.
Not Congress. Republicans. Name them and shame them.
Yes...especially the House Republicans.
There are 52,000 offices up for re-election this Tuesday? Unhappy with your elected people? Begin now, from the ground up, to replace them all. We outnumber them. The power is in our hands. We the People.
And I am ME the people!
absolutely!
That is why I thought we had 3 branches of government....boy did they ever fix that~
Sorry Karen, but I think it's necessary to call the real culpability here, which is the cowardly GOP!! I will agree that it took a good bit for the Dems to get over the shock of loosing, but the are taking a strong stand now while the rTumplicans are hiding in their basements.
Trump is President of the red states. His “country “ is at war with the blue states. When will the people in the red states realize that his actions are hurting them as well?
When inflation keeps getting worse and when food stamps run out.
In the meantime, keep up the support for your D reps and put the pressure on the R reps. Insist that the govt uses emergency funds for food stamps (SNAP). They are trying to win the blame game. Don't let them.
I live in a red state and when I pay $13 for a small can of coffee, I know I am being hurt also.
This is not true. No States are warring with each other. We are still the United States of America. It is "We the People" who will prevail-not blue or red State people-all the people.
We’re living The Lord of the Flies:
Civilization versus Savagery
The central concern of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will. This conflict might be expressed in a number of ways: civilization versus savagery, order versus chaos, reason versus impulse, law versus anarchy, or the broader heading of good versus evil. Throughout the novel, Golding associates the instinct of civilization with good and the instinct of savagery with evil. The conflict between the two instincts is the driving force of the novel, explored through the dissolution of the young English boys’ civilized, moral, disciplined behavior as they accustom themselves to a wild, brutal, barbaric life in the jungle.
Thank you SparkNotes.
I’ve written since 2016 that DJT is still a small, failed, family business guy that will never be happy until he stands atop the trash heap he has created and planted his brand flag.
Kudos to the “Lord of the Flies” reference.
There is one more contrast to be noted in Trump‘s case. Proper parenting and socialization versus neglect and outright encouragement of narcissistic behavior. We see what Trump’s father by commission and his mother by omission have wrought. Trump is the product not of the savage jungle, but of the civilization that Golding extolled.
Barry, I have occasionally suggested that Donald's upbringing was not unlike that of a dog chained to a tree.
…and whipped!
Oooh, I don't think his mother's role was omission at all. I think she was a real piece of work in her own right. Not the Nun with compassion but the Nun with the ruler.
Christine, my profession has acquainted me with people from "old money" as well as people with "new money." Without exception, "old money people" are gracious and respectful to everyone, no matter their station in life.
By contrast, "new money people" are arrogant and obnoxious. Their attempts to be kind come across as false and manipulative.
Fred Trump's wealth came to him from his father, a pimp who dabbled in real estate. The Trumps were from "the other side of the tracks." Mary Ann Trump was an uneducated Scottish immigrant who cleaned houses to make ends meet until she met and married Fred. By any account, the Trumps were "new money."
True to form, Mary Ann fancied herself a "queen" and everyone around her, including her children, were her attendants.
In Taylor Caldwell's novel, Testimony of Two Men, Dr. Jonathan Ferrier makes a comment to young Dr. Robert Morgan, recent arrival on the hospital staff, "Illness is a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy."
Immediately after Donald's birth, Mary Ann checked herself into the hospital for a long-term stay, where she enjoyed the devoted attention of the hospital staff for a mysterious condition called hypochondria, which enabled her to avoid the nuisances associated with motherhood. None of the Trump children experienced the warmth of maternal affection.
Good Lord. Cheer up. We are in a coup not some dystopian novel. We have the power to win this. There are more of than them. And we will win.
Why not post strategic things happening? Because there are many to talk about. Why not post the victories we are seeing? Because there many.
Me thinks that LaLa Land is about to swallow you up.
The La La Land occupation Was halted by Judge Charles Breyer months ago and not appealed.
Wreck's last "EO" was just busted on Friday by DC Judge COLEEN KELLY.
Update: The DCJudge made it apply nationally which will draw an appeal but, on this trial record of a valid national "emergency".
States run elections not Wreck.
Lord of the Flies made my body chilled when I read it oh so many years ago. Another book that should be required reading now.
Pam, we all assumed that swearing an oath to the Constitution actually meant something. Then came the Unitary Executive Theory and figures like Russell Vought, who've made it clear: constitutional constraints are only for those willing to be constrained. They're doing whatever they want—and who's going to stop them?
And let's talk about Congress. Every single member took the same oath. Yet how many are acting like enablers rather than a coequal branch of government? When legislators abandon their constitutional duty to provide oversight and checks on executive power, they're betraying that oath. If they won't defend the Constitution, they need to be replaced by people who will.
We used to call ourselves a nation of laws. But laws only matter when they're enforced—and when violating them carries consequences. Right now, we're watching what happens when enough people prioritize loyalty to a leader over loyalty to democratic principles.
The real tragedy? Millions of Americans either can't see it or don't care. Division and resentment have blinded too many to what's being dismantled right in front of us.
Every word truth Harvey. The question becomes - can anything be done to reverse this not-so-slow developing catastrophe. Increasingly, I am of the opinion that we have been had, by some very sly and morally repugnant people who have abandoned the idea of a democracy, and have studied up on all of this, found the weak spots and loop holes, and used the idiot Trump as a willing trojan horse so to speak to enable the take-over. Russell Vought for instance. Many more - Bannon, Thiel, Musk, etc.
Brand over generic? I do think it is more about "can't see it" than don't care.
Elect a felon and rapist...
Oh my Pam - were you wrong. So was I. However, I might have less of an excuse than you. I have lived a good portion of my life in states where the worse side of American character is more evident - Tennessee, Georgia being the two most prominent. And I have family in Alabama and Louisiana. It is in these states where deep rooted racism and mysogyny and anti-intellectualism are the most common, in my experience. It is in these states where the "bully" is more common. No state in the union is free of such behavior and immorality, for sure. But I maintain it is more prevalent in the red states. I should have imagined more fully what happens to our country when the "deplorables" get to take over. The "triple Trumpers". So none of us should be surprised that such an element exists in our great country.
What is surprising, and should be to all, is that one major political party places winning "Uber Alles" to the point where it freely gives up its power to a lawless and mentally compromised ex-reality show star and failed New York real estate mogul. And that enough other Americans (other than the above described "deplorables") were stupid enough to vote for this guy in 2024. Great country?
I was so wrong x 2 also that voters would elect Trump . From Trumps first election on, besides when Joe Biden was elected in 2020, my faith in the voters of this country was shattered.
The GOP under Biden became neofascist. It's time for us to deal with that fact, rather than imagining that this would be Trump's doing. Trump is merely their clown-in-chief, keeping us scotched to our screens (the only reason why they keep him out of jail) while they can implement, step by step, their roadmap to turn the US into a full-fledged fascist regime.
We could not have imagined. Some prior presidents have been less than savory and damaging in many ways, however they were pretty much small potatoes compared to DT, all things considered. Even Nixon did a little bit of good, and did not destroy our country, or the White House.
Who would have thought the SCOTUS would ever be so corrupted, money would be tconsidered by courts as the same as speech, the U.S. Government would participate in another genocide. (Remember the Native American demise) or a convicted pedophile. would end up in the White House instead of under some prison, claiming he is improving improving the country by bulldozing the East Wing!
"For what it is worth" - Buffalo Springfield 1966 "somethings happening here . . . ."
What it is should be clear to everyone! "There is a man with a gun over there telling us we need to beware . . . .! - Well Screw Trump and his cultists!
Unite and resist or perish, Defiance to Death! War Pigs beware.
Pam carry on and never let these morons see you sweat! Beside a good many folks other than you needed to vote this SOB into office. VOTE like your life depends on it!
This has been going on since Nixon and really took hold of under Reagan. With Nixon it was criminal. With Reagan it is the beginning of “ business as usual “.
Turns out the Constitution is just a bunch of suggestions.
If you have noted....anyone that has disagreed with him he invites to Mar A Creepo. Those people come back with a whole new attitude. He either bribes them with money or has obtained something bad on them to get them in line! He is a mob boss! He learned from the best. Then the billionaires have made him richer! Many of those around him were friends of Mr. Epstein! Someday the truth will come out!!!!!
Yeah, but the orange looney tune will call the elections rigged and send in the army to shoot the voters who voted for the wrong people. He's CRAZy!!!
Certainly, he wants you to think he'll do that. It just accentuates the need to do the right thing even more.
Yes, this is not out of the range of possibilities...his game is to create deep fear in the population so they will do as they are told. He has already sent the military to shoot rubber bullets at innocent people - it's not a big step to go further. Don't forget, he says he HATES the people who don't fully support him!! And is, in fact, going after them!
Fear is his secret weapon. That is all he preaches. He knows what works most effectively.
He hates all American people--even the ones who voted for him. How else do you explain his post-No Kings protest video with a plane dumping feces on the American people. (Got this idea from Anne Applebaum.) Another example. Do you think he loves the cattle ranchers when he decides to start buying beef from Argentina?
I guess that I have succumbed to not being respectful and kind to people who have a differing opinion than I do. But here's a riddle: You know who thinks maga people are smart? maga people. You know who thinks maga people are more stupid than a rock? The entire rest of the world!
“Tin soldiers and Nixon coming”
Neil Young (CSNY), “Ohio”.
How many direct echos of Nixonian actions and corruption, illicit abuse of power are happening now? Russell Vought believes (illegally) that the impoundment control act is Un-Constitutional. Hey, Vought - it is not your decision or beliefs. It is LAW.
Way too many Nixon supporters in the DJT background that want to go back to those corrupt, power rules exclusively days.
As I understand it, ICE agents are purposely wearing military style fatigues to the rubber bullets were shot
That quote from The Great Gatsby sums up Trump and the GOP perfectly.
Someday Trump will be gone and a Democratic or progressive president will have the herculean task of putting America back together.
Except that local concerns do not always lead to Democratic wins. (For example the frustration of the people where I live is directly directed at Democrats who currently have a monopoly) because they have ignored the will of the people who live here and hopefully will at least lose the mayor’s race. I think the bellwether will be the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey.
And vote in the primaries in 2026? There are many governorships up for election In 2026 as well as the two this week as well.
It's a good time to see if the Fascists have purged your name from the voting roles.
And if you change your affiliation from Democrat to Independent or Republican (I know it's tough to do that), then it's likely you won't be purged again. Plus you may elect a terrible MAGA candidate that has no chance of winning.
You can check before you go to the polls. Go to your State's Board of Elections site.
I changed to "Unaffiliated". Only problem is getting donation requests and calls from republicans.
I get unwanted and unneccessary snail mail solicitations from the RNC and Republican Congressional Committee constantly and I've been a registered Democrat since God was a boy. Don't let changing your registration to Unaffiliated hold you back, if that's something you want to do.
Hey, talking to you wastes their time and prevents other calls. Chat as long as you can stand it! And snail mail, doorknob fliers, etc. cost the party and/or candidate money. Click on the facebook ads of rightwing interests - that, too, costs them money.
I thought purging was done more on geography than anything else.
The Great Gatsby sure makes the picture of T & his maga- rich buddies exceedingly clear. And, interesting that it was written 100 years ago- 1925.
It's Come to This, yes, this is an election year. I do wish people would stop referring to this as an "off-year" too. It is when people don't vote that we get the appalling leaders we now have in the white house, in Congress, and in state legislatures too. It also keeps the people from demanding recounts when things don't seem right when it comes to election results. Every single American citizen aged 18 and older should automatically have the right to vote, not just if Republicans say they can vote, not just if they have the "right" kind of identification, not if they live in the right zip code, not if they have been in prison or not, but every single American citizen. We do know who those citizens are and don't need all kinds of massive paperwork to figure it out. OUr states know who can vote. Automatic registration should happen when a person turns 18, maybe even with a celebration. High schools or communities at large could do that! Make voting the most important thing a young person can do, because it is!
Let him eat cake. Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill are dedicated public servants and veterans. They will help us resist at the state level. The fascists are starving us into submission. My partner and I were fired from our civil service careers. We had to line up at a food bank again, use the same Halloween costumes as last year for our kids, and recycle their candy to give to trick or treaters.
So many of us are struggling with DOGE and the MAGA shutdowns - any support makes a big difference: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/emergency-furlough-maga-shutdown
i'd rather have him eat the broken glass of the smashed glasses from the Gatsby soiree.
"i'd rather have him eat the broken glass of the smashed glasses from the Gatsby soiree."
I sometimes am amused to think of Trump literally 'bursting with pride' but my bad angel prefers that he live at least l50 years under the conditions he creates for the most vulnerable of us - homeless, impoverished with no support and all paths to self betterment cut off, ill with no access to health care, bullied and in constant terror of abuse by authorities at the whims of the privileged, with no way to protect his children, with no voice, with no protection by government ... in short, as an undesirable under the Republican Reign of Terror and a Republican ChristoFascist state.
“ The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of moral crisis maintain their neutrality”, or worse:
Indifference and cruelty to the neediest and most vulnerable amongst us.
Dante and Virgil.
Can we send Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, & Tom Homan to that gulag in El Salvador, CECOT? 🙏🏼 Please!? 🙏🏼 Please???
That amuses me too . . .
Getting advice from a Trump WH lawyer is like buying ice cream from your trash collector.
What is the point of having those worthless twits in his incompetent cabinet?
Echos of the John Yoo Torture Memo. Anyway to twist the principle’s wants into a (il)legal formulation under the guise of power security.
It looks like Judy Hennessey has won today's comment like tally! Congrats!
I'm just going to leave this here for you and everyone to ponder:
"In spite of all this nonsense from the left, we are going to win. We're in the process of taking this country back," Roberts said. "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be."
Also: how much bunker can $300,000,000 buy? I'm asking because that's what's really being built under the former East Wing.
11/4 a bellweather? Judy, the Project 2025 government has no intention of leaving power. Ever.
1. 42 million people have lost their SNAP
2. There are 52,000 offices on the ticket in America on Tuesday.
We need to stay absolutely focused on the real stuff. Going off on made up stuff costs us time and energy.
We will prevail if we are strategic, disciplined and stay on message.
I sense a negative judgment here, Barbara. None of what I wrote is not "real stuff"
I suggest you do some research into it.
And here's a post from Allison Gill, aka "Mueller She Wrote" that might help you understand how real it is.
https://bsky.app/profile/muellershewrote.com/post/3m4p7j6tesc2a
Hello Steven.... Regarding "how much bunker can $300,000,000 buy? I'm asking because that's what's really being built under the former East Wing. "... From 'The Atlantic' 31-OCT-2025: Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth, anddMarco Rubio, are now living on Military Bases".... The Tech Billionaires have built Survival Bunkers... The DoD has instructed the formation National Guard Quick Response Teams to quell Civil Unrest in every State... The USG is shutdown, and there are no immediate plans to reopen it... Does This Sound Good?...
My thoughts too, Steven. None of us can foretell the future, but I’m worried that the bell weather moment was when Americans voted in a majority for Donald J Trump one year ago. One thing is clear: they’ve prepared for this and now they’re moving ahead with their plans. Trump’s antics are diversionary tactics. ‘Follow the money’ tells us more about them than their media activities do.
"when Americans voted in a majority for Donald J. Trump"
Didn't the Fascist-in-Chief get a plurality, not a majority?
I thought there already was a bunker of some type, so I looked that up. FDR built it after Pearl Harbor (that’s where Cheney, et al were squirreled away after 9/11 attacks began) and Truman further reinforced it.
There is, and the Cheeto already has used it once. However, it's pretty small and austere, and we know any bunker he deigns to use should be huge and have marble and gold.
What is your community doing for food assistance?
Barbara, perhaps you could share what you and your community are doing. Actions are more important than words/lectures. I will go first. Several of us are hosting a mutual aid benefit on November 22 for our community and surrounding areas. It will feature representatives from local social service agencies as well as a distribution of shelf stable food items. Everyone involved is retired with no previous experience planning and hosting a mutual aid benefit but we're learning as we go. We started planning well before the suspension of SNAP benefits and now expect a larger turnout due to people being hungry and in need of support.
There are several blessing boxes throughout the area that are voluntarily stocked by the community. Food items (including pet food), personal care and hygiene items, and fresh produce are available on a regular basis. These boxes supplement the food bank distributions that occur twice a month. The food bank receives stock from the Second Harvest Food Bank that in turn is part of Feeding America. The call was made for individual donations too as the folks who oversee the food distributions are concerned that an increase in customers will deplete resources. Several public areas such as the borough office and the community library are serving as collection points. In addition, some local eateries are displaying Pay It Forward bulletin boards where patrons can purchase prepaid meals for those who need them. My family, along with friends and neighbors, are actively supporting these efforts.
These are just a few of the actions being taken here. Some have been in place for years and others are in response to current events. Hopefully similar actions are being taken everywhere. We are in this together.
As I said earlier the Kentucky Governor has allocated $5 million for food aid. My town has 26 food pantries which are being supported by donations at City wide special events. Local efforts such as individual groups are slow to start. SNAP ended yesterday so I expect more groups to come on line this week. Before the loss of benefits local grocers were giving double the value of a benefit.
Here is a list of practical items
I know that many are trying to find ways to support neighbors facing the likelihood that food stamp benefits will not be paid out at the end of this week. First of all, thank you for being willing to love out loud in this critical and practical way. Secondly, I want to share a few thoughts with you before you stock up on food items to donate to a local food bank.
I helped run a food pantry for many years. Through that work, I learned many lessons about what food donations are most helpful and appreciated by those who come in for food support.
I often talked about the Golden Rule of Donating: "Donate to others as you would hope that others would donate to you if you were in need."
I hope that these lessons help you maximize the impact of your generosity if you feel led to help fill the food security gaps in your community in the coming days and weeks.
(And before it happens... please do not use the comments to shame people for being picky when accessing a food pantry. Everyone deserves to have some agency in their food choices. There are a range of factors that often determine what items are most helpful to individuals, including food allergies, health restrictions, dental health, etc. Ugly comments will be deleted because they are not helpful or productive.)
--------------------------------------------------
Things to consider when donating food to a pantry:
* Try to donate pop-top cans, because for many, opening a can may be a barrier.
* For many on the streets, food stamps may be their main source of ability to get food. Often, they do not have access to running water, a microwave, a can opener, a cooktop, or a stove. Items that are packaged in individual servings and ready to eat can be very helpful to them.
* Consider donating canned soups/stews with meat over canned vegetables. They are higher in protein and calories and will be much more filling.
* Protein bars or Meal bars are a good way to increase calories for individuals.
* Donate the Shells and Cheddar macaroni boxes instead of the Kraft or other similar generics. The reason is that Shells and Cheddar do not need extra ingredients like milk or butter to make them.
* Bread is always needed and hard to get from a food pantry. Loaves can be frozen and stored.
* Packages of lunch meat are RARE and very appreciated!
* Muffin mixes that only require you to add water are great.
* Tuna and Crackers or Chicken Salad and Crackers are great lunch items.
* Dehydrated meals can be a big blessing for people with reduced cooking capacity.
* Canned meats, especially canned chicken, are a huge blessing!
* Shelf-stable milk or powdered milk is useful and appreciated.
* Fresh fruits are a huge treat!
* Bags of potatoes are a great donation because they can be used in many ways for meals and ingredients.
* Bags of dried beans are often not popular, as many people do not know how to cook them. However, canned beans are utilized more frequently.
* Powdered mashed potatoes, flavored rice packets, and flavored noodles are always popular donations.
* Boxes of flavored oatmeal packets can be a great, easy way for people to start their day with calories that only need water to prepare.
* Condiments like ketchup, mustard, jelly, mayonnaise, and salad dressing are always popular and appreciated.
* Spices and pantry ingredients like vegetable oil, salt/pepper, flour, sugar, etc... allow people to make baked goods or complete recipes.
* If your food pantry accepts frozen items, consider donating items like: frozen lasagnas, frozen dinners, frozen pizzas, frozen meal kits, frozen pot pies, etc…
* Protein Shakes or Meal Replacement shakes can be a good source of nutrition for those who are struggling with calorie intake.
** Updating below to add some thoughts created from the comments **
* When possible, do not donate items in glass containers as they can often break when volunteers are packing or unpacking bags or boxes.
* Brownie mixes and cake mixes can be a great treat for individuals, especially ones that need limited additional ingredients.
* Many food banks/pantries will also accept and distribute hygiene items. These are a huge help - ESPECIALLY menstrual products!
* Consider also donating cleaning supplies, especially: Dish soap, laundry detergent, and cleaning wipes/sprays.
* Cash donations can be beneficial because they can allow them to get lower rates by buying much-needed items in bulk. You can reach out to the food bank(s) that you often support and ask them for their preference. I was always grateful when donors communicated with us because it allowed us to partner together to make the biggest impact that we could!
* You can purchase and donate P39 military can openers in bulk for pantries/food banks to give out to people who need them. You can find as many as 200 for less than $30.
* If your pantry accepts it, consider donating pet food as well. As people struggle to feed themselves, their pets will be impacted too. We used to buy big bags of pet food in bulk and then break it down into gallon-sized ziplocs to distribute at our pantry.
Founder, Executive Director, Podcast Host at Faith and Trauma Center and works at Pastor at Englewood Christian Church
Hi, Barbara. Thanks for your reply and kudos to you for your activism. The information you're sharing is very helpful and mirrors that shared by my local food bank. Their requests for donations are item specific and hopefully will serve as a guideline for those wanting to help. Our local blessing boxes are not monitored for donations but the community as a whole seems to do a good job of keeping them filled with appropriate items. I agree that cash donations to food banks are always needed and appreciated which is why we donate on a consistent basis.
As for the success of the future mutual aid event, we shall see. There is a big learning curve here but we're planning and hoping for the best. In my opinion, it is better to try and fail than not to try. Thanks again for your kind reply.
I am editing to add that my governor, Josh Shapiro, has been on the forefront of pushing back against Trump. He sued the regime for the withholding of SNAP benefits to PA. recipients.
Following the strategies of New Mexico & Maryland.
California seems to have developed a system, Kentucky's Democratic Governor yesterday signed an order allocating 5 million for food assistance. While these are all admirable it is a bitter pill to see the Republicans finally get their way in abdicating the Federal Government's role serving Americans.
Roger that.
However, he is setting up to intimidate voters from going to the polls in "Blue states" by including the national guard.
Also, yesterday I read that Trump has threatened to attack Nigeria to protect "Christians." A ludicrous claim that makes one wonder what the real goal is, it is implied Trump wants their minerals.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/01/trump-nigeria-christian-persecution
So, he is also threatening war and threatening taking over countries (Canada, Greenland) where ever he feels like it, against any country he thinks the US can easily bully.
It follows Trump's ridiculous attacks on South Africa's government for ellegedly persecuting white farmers
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/21/trump-south-africa-president-meeting
and then his decision to impose a quota on refugees and give preference to white South Africans.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/30/trump-refugee-restrictions-white-south-africans
Russell John, I started calling the MAGA party the New American Nazi Party several years ago, because if it looks like a Nazi and acts like a Nazi and talks like a Nazi, that is what it is. White Supremacists run the country now. It is why I took my brown-skinned self to somewhere else.
Your move is all too understandable, but we need and appreciate your brain, no matter the color of its wrapping. For all its drawbacks, I'm grateful for the internet because we can be involved online. I too am out of the country, but I'll be back in plenty of time for the midterms.
I will return for the midterms if that is the only way to vote. Right now, I cannot travel on a plane because I have thrombosis, so that will be out. I am staying put for the time being until I get a clean bill of health.
I am a member of Democrats Abroad and Indivisible Abroad so I am actively working from abroad to get Americans to vote and to support democracy not just in the US but here where I am living and everywhere. I am working on forming a coalition here of Germans, Americans and others to support democracy. I am heartened by the messages of the Dutch elections. Which is
1) people get tired of living under a right wing government
2) when the progressive party does not shy away from offering solutions to real problems, like housing which everyone should be taking on and I have been saying this since the US election, they can win
3) Hopefulness is powerful.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/02/dutch-voters-positivity-liberals-patriotism-d66-netherlands-election?utm_term=690704f5cd7419c215324559a1181a93&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email
I qualified as an American resident overseas and was able to vote online. However, with Doge boys having been or being in charge of government technology given the current efforts to stop voting, I'm not sure that will be available. I'll find a way, though! My German friends keep saying that the U.S. has gone verrückt geworden. I hope your thrombosis is treated successfully—and not only so you can fly.
Very wise.
What natural resource does Nigeria, Vemezuela and Canada have that Trump values almost as much as gold and crypto?
Certainly not their people!
I assume you are talking about oil.
Bingo. Venezuela is has the largest known oil reserves and Canada has way more than the US. But thanks to climate change we will likely never deplete the oil before the Earth becomes uninhabitable.
GJ in many ways the earth is already becoming uninhabitable for many people. Thus we have the flight north from the southern part of the world, where only the wealthy can afford alterations to accommodate their climate like air conditioning and importing water, or desalinating, or recycling waste water into drinkable water like Namibia does.
Very sad. Apparently Thiel has been trying to purchase a large parcel in South New Zealand to build a "compound town" complete with people that serve his every need. Fortunately, the New Zealand government has given him the middle finger so far.
Have you read Goliath's Curse? It goes into a couple of dozen different ways in which we might lead the Earth into irreversible disaster.
Exactly, GJ - This Venezuela boat thing has NOTHING to do with drugs (other than to fool Americans into a “support” position). This is all about oil! Trump’s Art of the Deal: “I’ll threaten and threaten and even do some damage until you give me what I want.” Trump’s left hand is pointing vigorously toward Maduro while his right hand is doing a ‘gimme gimme’ gesture.” Meanwhile, Chevron is smirking and beginning to count its “payback” from the deal they reached at Mar-a-Lago before the election.
Trump has always had a lust for oil and the oil baron's. Harold Hamm is a vile disgusting creature who would sell his wife to make a dollar.
Why not their people Linda?
Because Trump does not value people. We are the only ones who see them as resources, which is why we are not anti-immigrants.
Maduro has been working with Putin and the Brazilians to support them against the Trump and Kegsbreath. This could end badly.
Blowout - Rachel Maddow. Explains it all very well.
Lithium-maine has a lot and has already once refused mining it
Weeks ago I voted YES on California's redistricting Prop 50. With CA state of the art digital tools, I have been notified my ballot was received, counted & a permanent vote confirmation has been recorded.
As the Great Orange Gatsby, on Halloween, Senior, DC, Judge Coleen Kotelly has granted Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment entering a PERMANENT injunction that prevents Wreck's Election Assistance [not] Commission from implementing the worst provisions of Wreck's purported Executive Order [not] that purported to require proof of citizenship [no]. States run elections not Wreck.
We could all use a little extra time so "Fall Back" in a few hours & sleep in.
I need to stop reading these useless comments.
Some of these comments are thoughtful and carefully composed. That’s why I read through the comments; some are gems.
Rudyard, that's the response I was trying to compose. I frequently find "pearls of wisdom" and sometimes other stuff. The *real garbage* frequently comes from trolls and bots.
It's really too bad HCR doesn't limit commenting to paid subscribers, which keeps the rifraff at bay.
That would hardly be right. The comments are terrific and you would be denying people who can't pay the benefit of those comments and denying us the benefit of their wisdom. Block the bots and the nasties. That way you don't see them.
Absolutely. I've blocked several and if somebody blocks me, so be it.
I read most of the comments everyday, because I learn from them. They also help me to feel like I'm not alone out there.
I don’t support access only to paid subscribers. That would lead to talking only to like minded people. That said, I would hope some prolific trolls and or bots (one notorious one has the initials RS) could be judged persona non grata.
Once only, I reported a Troll — and they were banished! Yay!
I have permanently blocked the RS troll. I don't need his nonsense.
You don't think RS provides comic relief? He does sometimes have difficulty translating his Russian into English.
My first thought went to RS. Troll, bot or whatever, he peddles disinformation at a remarkable and consistent rate.
TC, I can't recall ever disagreeing with you, so this is a first. Substack is home to many brilliant and valuable writers, including HCR. Unfortunately, Substack's recommended subscription rates are expensive. If I paid for all my subscriptions, I'd spend thousands of dollars per year. I'm not that wealthy, so on many Substacks, I'm a "lurker." Many times, I'm moved to make a comment, but I'm blocked because I don't pay.
The conversations under HCR's "Letters" are invaluable, I don't know who pays and who doesn't, but I value their contributions. The "block" function exists to eliminate those who waste time and space.
I thought one had to be a paid subscriber to comment. No?
Just to clarify—some of you here are not paid subscribers. Heather always says her content is free, but when I first subscribed, I believe one had to be a paid subscriber to participate in the conversation.
If anyone can comment, I’m gratified we have such thoughtful commenters here!
True, but, a comment does not have to be a gem to trigger deductive reasoning & further inquiry. It's called civil discourse.
Check out, Professor Joyce Vances' Civil Discourse platform & many others.
It's really very easy: don't click on them.
And if you err and click, for **heaven’s sake** don’t respond.
Lol
Actually it's not that easy Anne-Louise, you need at lest two neurons to get a connection 🤔
I'm only reading them for filler during the World Series commercials
Well that's all over now.
Hah!!
We can block the commenters we don’t like! I’ve blocked a few.
Ouch! I am working on an Amendment to address our need to fix the holes Trump and the Roberts Court are punching into our Constitution. I am now working on “Section 3" of my First Draft. Section 1 addresses corporate personhood with an all inclusive ERA. Section 2, address gerrymandering and more. Section 3 (a small portion thereof below) addresses some of the problems I feel this letter from our Professor list. We have a power hungry crazy jackass on our hands. We need to stop him and any other future clones of him. So, please read this portion of Section 3 and I look forward to any edits you may have in mind. My Thanks,
No taxation without representation being the central tenet of democracy, In each time zone of the United States of America, on the morning of the first Tuesday in October and continuing though and ending the night of the first Tuesday in November of the year in which the presidential general election would have occurred following the presidential general election after this section is ratified, the process expounded in the Constitution of electors of each State electing the President and Vice President shall be repealed, then, and during those dates every four years thereafter, there shall be an Executive Powers of the United States Election in which citizens of the United States, eighteen years of age or older, shall elect eight executives, and eight vice executives, who shall be vested with executive power of the autonomous executive Office for which they are elected. The eight executives shall be inaugurated the following January 20th, at which time Article II, and Article I, Section 1, clause 3 of this Constitution shall be repealed.
There is much more, for example, Every Appropriations Bill, which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, if it deals with the operations of one of these eight Executive Offices and/or Agencies under their Administration, it shall before it become a Law, be presented to all eight Federal Executive Officers, if the eight Federal Executives approves the Authorization Bill then each shall sign it, but if any Bill shall not be signed by all eight Executive Officers it shall be returned, with Objections, to that House in which it shall have originated, and Congress shall perform such duties as provided by Article I, Section 7, clause 2. On and on...
Here are the eight executives I have in mind.
1, President
2, Treasurer
3, Attorney General
4, Protection General of the Environment and Interior
5, Labor General
6, Health and Human Services General
7, Education General (To establish a minimum level of “American standards.”)
8, Public Services General; conducts the Executive Powers of the United States Election using .
The United States Postal Service, Ballot delivery, collection, and tallying.
United States Census Bureau, Director of the Census.
Federal Election Commission (FEC), six Commissioners.
United States Election Assistance Commission.
Thank you for being proactive!
A good start Albert. I would recommend staggering the 4 year terms and have an election every year. If we were voting on two of those positions this year, the administration would likely be more careful with his lawlessness. The Attorney General should be the people's lawyer and not the President's or the oligarchs. And what about the Defense Department? Do they report to the President?
Staggering the elections with two offices per year is an excellent idea. Your vision of that influencing the other office holders is sounds correct to me also. Part of why I feel there should be a true Federal election by citizens of the USA is to promote a more national identity and maybe even at least a little true unity among We the People as being Americans. The staggering elections idea would perhaps help do that also.
I feel the powers for the office of President of the United States still need to include Commander in Chief and other powerful departments and agencies. I think the President is supposed to be our top Diplomat to the world and to be respected as such by other world leaders. IOW, the President should "Speak softly and carry a big stick," -- President Theodore Roosevelt
United States Department of State,
United States Department of Armed Services (Not WAR Dept.)
United States Department of Agriculture,
United States Department of Commerce,
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development,
United States Department of Transportation,
United States Department of Energy,
United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
I put United States Department of Homeland Security under the Attorney General.
My thanks for your comment. I will work in your idea an election every year and staggering them.
You've obviously given this a lot of thought. I'm just going to throw this out there. Perhaps there could be two Presidents - one that deals with domestic issues and one that deals with foreign policy issues. I understand there is a lot of overlap, but some Presidents are not very adept at foreign issues.
After thinking more about two Presidents I realized the primary issue the Framers had in m ind to solve when they rushed to write the constitution was to create a standing national army for "ensuring domestic tranquility" by defending domestic courts and banks against rebellion. Then also to defend the country from foreign enemies. Thus the question becomes which of the two Presidents would become the Commander in Chief? That brought me to either there be only one President or there three new executives plus the other seven listed above;
Domestic Policy General
Foreign Policy General
Armed Services General (Commander in Chief)
Power to deploy armed forces within a State shall require the request of the Domestic Policy Executive and the State Governor. No State’s armed forces shall be deployed within another State unless by the request of the Domestic Policy Executive and the Governors of those States. Power to use armed forces against an enemy requires a declaration of war from Congress.
That has crossed my mind too. It is one of the irons on the fire. I would like to hear what type of background would you require being necessary to the domestic and foreign President? For example, there must never b e another RFK, Jr., a guy with no education or work experience in Health and Human Services, being in charge of it. Hamilton's Federalist Papers No. 68, suggested that the electoral process of the Constitution was designed to prevent demagogues from gaining power. He felt electors, meeting in their states, would be independent, free from the "sinister bias" of political office and large-scale bribery. Ha! Hamilton never read Citizens United. What might we demand of education and work experience of these diverse executives to keep our nations safe?
To whom does this document go after you finish it?
The draft language for the proposed amendment will be at the end of a "Memorandum
TO: We the People of the United States
Re: The Assault on Our Constitution, How They Did It, and Our Remedy. "
I will mail a hard copy to every Democrat in Congress. I will create a web page in the hope that people will include it's URL on the signs they take to rallies. The ultimate hope is that people discuss these issues and send letters to their elected officials demanding a national resolve to remedy the constitutional crises created by the corporatist fascist on the Supreme Court; Citizens United, Shelby County v. Holder, etc. In the Memo I discuss what is lacking in the existing amendment proposed by a few Democrats. I.e., it uses language like Congress "...may regulate and impose reasonable viewpoint-neutral limitations on the raising and spending of money..." , "... may regulate and enact systems of public campaign financing..." and finally, "... may distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law..." As I read the word "may," and I am not saying the authors intended this but, I see a major problem. When ever Congress may do something then it leaves open that Congress may not do it. Where many billions of dollars in campaign money is at hand we have already seen what "May" happen. That is the problem.
https://www.schiff.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Citizens-Over-Corporations-Amendment.pdf
I feel my language in my Section 1 is stronger, e.g.,
“Section 1, We hold these truths to be self-evident, That all individual persons are endowed with equal non-transferable rights, That to secure these rights the Government of the United States has been granted just powers from the consent of the people, That the United States and every State has no powers to create, grant, or transfer, these rights to any assemblage of individual persons, or personal property, or any private sector enterprises, or anything manufactured, or artificial intelligence, or allow any of such to engage in any form of political expression. All laws and judicial holdings and decisions of the United States and every State inconsistent with this section are hereby repealed. Neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any claim for the loss or repeal of any asserted rights of by any entities listed in this section; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void. Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with or deny any of the equal non-transferable rights of individual persons enumerated in this Constitution or disparage other equal non-transferable rights retained by individual persons.”
Notice that the freedom of the press is still protected as it was when the First Amendment was ratified in 1791. Chief Justice John Marshall’s Court in 1801 would never have held the East India Company, which owned those three ships full of tea docked in Boston Harbor in 1773, was a person with equal protection of the laws. If they dared do it then it likely would have resulted with his entire Court being hot tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail by the Sons of Liberty. The “Press” was a printing press run by people like Benjamin Franklin or partners, not corporations. Some papers were sponsored by political parties and that is where the problem should have been nipped with strong language securing democracy of, by and for individuals. IMO, an individual person, or assembly of persons, has the right to petition the government but a petition is to be signed by persons and money is not a petition. I feel that although your ballot should be secret your political press should not. Otherwise how would we know if an enemy like Russia is not poisoning our political debate. With the creation of podcast it will be somewhat like returning to the days of Ben Franklin. Heather Cox Richardson’s podcast corresponding with "Letters from an American," and "Now & Then" are sure a breath of fresh air.
Thank you.
Why not contribute useful comments if you don't like what other people have to say?
When I first became a manager, I had a personnel issue and I went to my boss to complain about the person. He listened to my complaint and the first question he asked me was, "What is your solution?"
This caught me totally off-gaurd since I expected him to tell me what I should do. I thought about it and we talked through the solution.
After that, I always had a solution in mind when I went to him.
Most of the comments here are thoughtful and many people do offer solutions or provide corroborating evidence to support what Heather says.
GJ, I worked for an executive (and mentor) who had a similar approach. In management meetings, he frequently reminded us, "Do not bring me a problem without bringing me a solution to go with it. If it works, we'll learn from it. If it bombs, we'll learn from it. Either way, I'll support you outside my office."
I was very lucky to have had him as a mentor. Eventually, he fired me, which turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me in my business life. I went on to build my own consulting firm which I wouldn't have done without the push he gave me.
One of his business rules was, "No matter what position someone has in the company, they deserve to be treated with respect." Obviously, a twist on the golden rule, but it hit home with me. I changed it slightly, "treat everyone like you would want to be treated." I never went wrong with that.
GJ, your response reminded me of another feature of my relationship with my "Mentor Number 2." Rather than repeat it here, I'll just share a link to my tribute. You can read about him if you're interested ... or not.
https://lexigraphicspro.substack.com/p/the-three-mentors-part-2
Agree. And, where people are just having a vent, goodness knows they deserve it and it lets the mind start thinking productively again.
just go away
A bunker under the east wing ballroom hadn't occurred to me; it makes sense, and that's useful to me -- opens my eyes and gives me sources.
I hope voters recognize WHO has allowed 47 to keep pushing boundaries: congressional Republicans. Since all House members are on the ballot next year, THEY need to pay for what they have not done.
Maybe that's the reason all the House members are being spineless and doing what mike johnson is accomplishing by keeping them from reopening the government and negotiating with the Democrats. That is what tRvmp has demanded and he hasn't and most likely won't give "permission". They know they will not get re-elected in 2026 and are willing to let America go down the road to authoritarianism.
Oh I sincerely doubt they think that. They are not self-aware enough—or maybe not courageous enough—to realize how disgusted constituents are with their spinelessness. They think the party is all powerful and holding on to that power by any means necessary is all that matters.
And I am not seeing what I believe is proper: The president of the United States should be charged with multiple crimes and be impeached. NOW.
I’m concerned that our Navy is following illegal orders to kill the people on the ships with absolutely no evidence that they are doing anything illegal and with no approval from Congress. Accountability is non existent
The Great Gatsby Goes to War
By the time the marble bathroom selfie hit Truth Social, the Republic had already gone full Jazz Age fever dream. Picture it: federal workers pawning wedding rings to pay rent while a former real estate mogul clinks champagne glasses at Mar-a-Lago beneath a gold “Make America Gatsby Again” banner.
It would be funny if it weren’t a live-action history lesson about the collapse of civic conscience. As millions prepared to lose their food benefits, the Commander in Chief waltzed through a party themed after a novel famous for mocking men exactly like him. Fitzgerald, wherever he is, must be hoarse from laughing... https://essayx.substack.com/p/the-great-gatsby-goes-to-war
HCR has so much to wade through to pick what she writes about. I don't think it was an accident that she reported Trump's giving out Schumer's phone number. And Trump was talking about SNAP, meaning that he knows the vulnerability. Calls matter! Call your reps today. Insist that they press for the use of emergency funds for SNAP.
Typically low turnout, but NJ has had very high turnout this time and long lines for early voting for the governor's race, mail-ins have been high too ...crossing my fingers
Judy, I believe lots of Californians have been motivated to vote this time, because of Prop 50. Signs are that it will pass!
I am anxious to see what happens with the New York mayoral election. I remember the joy we felt watching Kamala Harris campaign. It was so crushing to watch her defeat. It really felt like she had the momentum going into the Election.
We visited my home state, Montana, a year ago in September. From all the political ads I saw, it seemed like the money and support as well as the qualifications favored the incumbent Democrat senator. The Republican challenging him ran fewer ads. He's a millionaire or billionaire. He didn't offer much information about himself, other than, family man and fiscal responsibility. Yet, the Republican won.
Mamdani is so likable. He's young. He's optimistic and progressive. He's popular. But can he actually win??? Or will it be the same old, worthless and stale politics as usual???
As another writer stated: All politics is local.
Amen!
Thank you for this summary, Heather! It’s a compilation of the many ways this administration is continuing to degrade the safety and security of We the People.
Tim Snyder just posted a warning about terrorist attacks. Between Heathers and Tim’s Substack posts, it’s a wonder we’ll be able to sleep tonight! Thank goodness we’ll have an extra hour as we “fall back”. 😉
Tim’s post here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-next-terrorist-attack-26b?r=9vmv5&utm_medium=ios
Kari, I read Snyder's post today and felt bleak because this regime is so reckless and they have destroyed so much that helps keep us safe. I was also reading an article on Patel using the Michigan story which seems not to be true now, to hide his tax-payer funded trips to see his girlfriend and fly both of them back to her place. Nice work if you can get it. So many incompetent and integrity challenged people at the public trough.
I really want to know what a young woman like that is doing with a guy who one look at those crazy eyes, you know to cross the street as he approaches.
I have to say, I am not comfortable commenting on his eyes as I feel that is a bit of a physical handicap. I don’t care for the man, don’t care for his attitude or politics, but feel that physical traits that are not voluntary on the person’s part, are out of bounds. Otherwise, I am like Trump, making fun of people with disabilities. Don’t mean to criticize your comments, people may do what they wish, just felt I needed to mention this.
Love is blind TC. 😵💫
A desire to be power adjacent is not.
LIke Itsy Bitsy, I refrained from mentioning how his eyes look.
Definitely incompetent, Michele…and dangerous. It’s hard to imagine an administration stirring up a war to stay in power. We must keep a watchful eye on the interactions with Venezuela. Who knows….
Kari, I think he is dying to drop the bomb and it's better on people who cannot retaliate and are brown. And if the aftermath drifts this way, well the elite probably all have bunkers or silos.
Yes, and high ranking Trump officials have moved into secure military headquarters. People assume that they are afraid of mass protests, but what if they know something about vulnerability to terrorist attacks?
I keep hoping for the Praetorian Guard to show up.
Michele, you could’ve just stopped your sentence after the word “dying”. I got excited for a minute…
I think the sick and dying truth is why he’s pushing, or being pushed, to escalate quickly so he won’t miss out. Anyone think a malignant narcissist would miss this event?
Marlene, I am sorry to disappoint. I know lots of people who would like to see a death notice. Personally, I want it to be in public, so we all know that it has happened.
Oh I do too!!
It's murder plain and simple. No one is driving an outboard 1000+ miles with a significant amount of drugs and , as heather said, you just shoot the motor not blow up the whole boat. It's not like thwy could shoot back even if they had drugs. It's just another distraction from what he's doing here that happens to MURDER innocent people trying to make a living. But now, who would go fishing if you knew you might be murdered.
Isn't that what George Bush the younger did in Iraq?
I think it was more than that. I think he was seeking revenge on Sadam Hussein for earlier taking a hit out on his father, Bush Senior, I think it was personal.
Meanwhile, a trillion dollars or so later, we sent our military into harm's way for over 20 years until the brave President Biden finally got us out of there.
Yep. All true. Biden fell on his sword to end it and got way too much criticism for not being perfect about it. It was lousy mess, set up by lousy Trump, and the press and much of America took the bait.
Everything Trump gets involved in, leaves emotional and political “stickem “ on it. We need a big vat of Goo Gone with this asshole.
"It’s hard to imagine an administration stirring up a war to stay in power."
Wag the Dog ??
a modern political interpretation popularized by a 1997 film and has been used to describe actions taken to distract from scandals.
And- they believe voters will always support the Pres in office during war.
Kari, as I have recently opined, the Trump regime's aggression in Venezuela is intended to provoke a war, for three reasons:
1. Venezuela has some of the richest oil reserves in this hemisphere. Unlike Canada, Venezuela has little means to resist an invasion to take their oil.
2. Due to Donald's hare-brained trade wars, the U.S. economy is collapsing. Historically, wars have boosted a failing U.S. economy.
3. Increased demand for military matériel puts money in the pockets of oligarchs who run companies with military contracts, a win for Donald and his friends.
Michele: yes, I think I read the same thing. I wonder if she thinks he's a good catch, or if he thinks she's a good catch?
I think she is pretty young and may be attracted to a guy with a publicly financed government jet to shuttle her around. Personally, he and all of them make me sick.
Snyder always has been a downer. I quit reading him a while ago because of this. I respect that fact that he felt the need to move to Canada. This fact does diminish any opinions he may have about America today. We are in the trenches.
I respect his scholarship and he is very knowledgable on Nazis and eastern Europe. Yes, what he says is hard to read, but he knows the signs and his historical speciality is depressing material. I am not going to stop reading someone because what he says is depressing. That being said, I do not usually read books on modern politics. I have read several of Snyder's however. Also I do not intend to give up.
I did not suggest you or anyone else stop reading him. My comment was an opinion on his writing. I never said you were giving up. Please stop putting words in my writing that aren't there.
Again. I will not follow someone commenting on America at this time who left has left the Country. I will support those voices in America such as Dr. Richardson who are at great risk every day they speak while residing in this Country.
I know what you said and that it is your opinion. I gave you my opinion on his writing and why I will keep reading him as several others on this thread have indicated. You also said you respect his choice to go to Canada and then dissed him for doing so. When I said I was not going to give up, I was agreeing with you that those of us here are in the trenches. That includes the courageous Dr. Richardson and others.
Now I understand thank you. I am not dissing Snyder. I remain respectful of his decision to move to Canada (the timing for is family is a bit odd don't you think) but anyway. I will not support nor will I read his work. He is trying to have it both ways; be a voice in America while not living through the hell here. I simply do not respect that double standard.
Even if he is in Canada, he has been, and still is, a leader in warning us about the real dangers of this administration. He travels to the U.S. regularly to speak or take part in demonstrations.
I simply do not see him as a leader. I quit reading him a while back because he is such a downer.
Snyder didn't move to Canada to get away from the U.S. although I'm sure that's an enormous side benefit! I trust his honesty when he says he moved there related to issues in his family and he explicitly denied political reasons.
There a huge academic brain drain from here to Canada now and he is inadvertently a part of it.
I had to sit with Tim’s message for a while today.
Yes, heart beating fast and blood pressure rising. I fear that too many people will trust in the government. A dictator ploy is to create conditions only he can address.
Yes, read his Prof. Snyder's post and book On Tyranny. Wise words of warning and caution.
Read his book The Road to Unfreedom. An eye opening recounting of how and why we are here now and ideas on how to reclaim democracy.
I read almost all of Tim’s book, On Tyranny, last night after reading his Substack post. Recommended reading for us all
Tyranny is not allowing the opening of the government the Democrats voted to open the government 13 times under Biden or Moore and now they closed at 13 times under Trump or more. Sounds a little suspicious to me. Lol. Just a little yes, and you will shut up on this topic that’s all it takes
Rick, you need to work on your English.
Rick, as if you don't know, Republicans control the House, the Senate and Presidency. If they wanted to open the government they could easily do so w/out a single Democrat's vote. Republicans could also agree to rescind the reduction/elimination of the ACA subsidies that will affect 49M+ Americans. So, please, save us the BS claim that Democrats are preventing the government from opening.
You might wanna study up on the facts there.
And if they try to circumvent or skirt the issues that Democrats will scream foul from the mountain tops, so please save your holier than thou attitude. Trump breathes and they call foul. And they wait for every opportunity to do so so spare me OK
And as to your other point, Barack Hussein Obama signed the ACA and in the ACA signed by Barack Hussein Obama, the subsidies ended this this December Oooops. That has nothing to do with Republicans whatsoever. It's on Obama supporters who believe the shit he was spewing when he got this bill passed if you'd like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your plan you can keep your plan and now both the plan it's coverage. It's benefits It's costs are out of control and are only going to get worse so you want to bail out for 14% of the public when everybody else gets nothing. Stop being a partisan hack.
Rick, thank you for sharing your opinion.
It’s really wonderful to have open dialogue and I wish more people had not fled to blue sky, so they didn’t have to hear an alternative opinion.
PS I hope you enjoyed the humor about snap recipients
Thank you for posting the link to Timothy Snyder’s open.substack post today. It is a lengthly but important documentation and discussion of the myriad of things Trump and his sycophants are doing to seize power and money and destroy our democracy. I highly recommend it. As he points out a staged, provoked or false flag “terrorist” attack is something to be prepared for in order to deal with it in a rational way. I don’t remember if he pointed out that McVeigh’s bombing killed 20 children - 15 of them were in the American Kids Day Care Center in the Federal building.
I would also like to recommend Timothy Snyder’s video of about a month ago on how the Weimar Republic fell to fascism. As he points out, we have this history to inform us on the playbook of fascists and thus how to resist them that the moderate centrists didn’t have in the 1930s. It’s very informative.
For those who may be unfamiliar with Timothy Snyder: Timothy Snyder is an American historian, a chaired university professor of history who has spent his long career (long before Donald Trump appeared) studying fascism and the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and the Holocaust. He has published about 6 books on these topics including the bestselling “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century” 2017 (ISBN 978-0-8041-9011-4). He is an internationally known and highly respected expert on authoritarianism and fascism. He is a frequently invited lecturer. You can Google his resume:
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/trumps-civil-war?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
Or follow his Substack. This one is on Trump manufacturing “panic” in order to manipulate the public into having an emotional reaction rather than a rational on based on facts: https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-truth-about-panics?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
Exerpt from “On Tyranny”: “The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.” - from “On Tyranny”.
Also:
“History has repeatedly shown, there is little that threatens individual liberty or facilitates tyranny more than the unchecked ability of a country’s leader to turn the military inward against the people.” https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/unpacking-trumps-order-authorizing-domestic-deployment-military
The first caveats in “On Tyranny”: 1. Do not obey in advance; 2. Defend institutions; 3. Beware the one-party rule; 4. Take responsibility for the face of the world; 5. Remember professional ethics; 6. Be wary of paramilitaries; 7. Be reflective if you must be armed; 8. Stand out; 9. Be kind to our language; 10. Believe in truth;……..20. Be as courageous as you can.”
NB: I have no affiliation with Timothy Snyder whatsoever.
Here is a link to the video of Tim Snyder where he discusses the downfall of the Weimar Republic
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/when-anti-antifa-means-pro-nazi-video?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
Snyder left. There are many, many astute and brave commentators, writers and essayists facing deep and serious threats for speaking out against this Administration who are still living here.
Why not promote their work?
Why don't you? Barbara, if you don't enjoy other people's opinions, you aren't required to interact with them. Please stop pushing your purity standards on others. We are going to see more and more people leaving the US, especially those who are threatened by this regime's policies, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to them because they're "traitors" or "cowards" or whatever it is you seem to be implying.
If you want to popularize a different voice, then do so. You have that ability. Promote different sources; wouldn't that be a much more positive and productive thing than dogging on the sources everyone else seems to follow?
Michelle and I have been having a discussion on Timothy Snyder. Other people have been chiming in as well. It has been a civil discussion with people expressing their opinions. This is what happens in this forum frequently. If you can't handle reasonable disagreements about a topic then don't read the discussion thread.
I have, many times, posted the list of non-legacy sources on this forum. It was compiled by contributions from readers on this forum (from discussing things). You will notice Timothy Snyder is on the list because people like him.
Here is it again.
Raw Story
Katie Phang
Allison Gilal (Muellershewrote)
UnJustified
The Daily Beans
Trilogy Barbara Mullen
Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Anne Applebaum
Robert Reich
Dr. Heather Cox Richardson
Joyce White Vance
Timothy Snell
Timothy Snyder
Meidas Touch
Brian Tyler Cohen
The Contrarian
Ryan Goodman
Simon Rosenberg
The Guardian
Jay Kuo
Lucian Truscott
Olga Lautman's "Unmasking Russia"
Judd Legum's "Public Notice"
Marc Elias's "Democracy Docket"
"Musk Watch" (also Judd Legum)
Dean Blundell
D. Earl Stephens, "Enough Already”
“What Did Trump Do Today”
Elizabeth Graham's "From Democracy to Democracy"
Bill McKibben
Rachael Maddow
The Bulwark
Geddry's Newsletter
This list was put together by readers on Dr. Richardson’s Letters forum. I do not have personal knowledge of all of these entities.
Well, like Fred you’re usually upside down and this post above is no different
And all it takes is one. Yes that’s all it takes and your issue become insignificant once again not that it’s significant now, but it helps. Keep one thing in mind, dear Fred you’re typing to your sycophant. You’re a liberal elitist lemmings Hair kissing each other patting each other on the back. Keep it up. I expect the market to continue to rise under the circumstances. As business ignores your existence.
Thank you for sharing Tim’s article. Yes, sleep will be difficult. “Apres le deluge, nous” … hope and resolve will get us through
Betsy, there is a fake humanoid knocking at your door. Double bolt it.
Possibly not fake but definitely a troll 🧌… locked out and bolted to boot: thanks for the heads up. Some peeps don’t understand quite a lot, including how much cheaper carbs are compared to fresh produce nor how severely stress affects metabolism adversely…among other elements of reality that passes them by…
betsy, interesting observation about food and stress. Right now I am trying to figure out how we can help our garden person who we found out has SNAP. I hope she will agree to let us help her.
I believe we are going to be sadly surprised at just how many people have been relying on SNAP in our community.
I have found that making and canning jam from fresh or frozen fruit and low sugar pectin is a gift that most people appreciate—and I further realized that jams can be made into sauces and marinades to form yummy main dishes … though certainly not everyone has the time or wherewithal to can foods. My point, I guess, is that making help look like a gift from the heart is one way of showing you care
I agree, but this situation calls for more since she has animals including a rabbit and is expecting a vegetarian guest from Germany. We consider her family, so hopefully that will help. We pay her well for her help, but I think we need to help more.
Check my response to Heather above their Betsy. Ask Google what the difference of the weight of an average woman in America and an average woman receiving snap benefits. You will be.’HEAVILY” surprised according to the stat.
Dr. Richardson is a historian who started Letters from an American as an historical account. When I read it in that light I can see history in play. Reading in that perspective gives me hope in this obscene crisis. Dictators have come and gone. We will eventually prevail. We just have to keep at it.
If we were living in ancient Rome or 18th century France, I doubt these monsters would still be around. In WWII the world rescued people from imperial powers. What I see is other powers working around us or using the chaos to advance their own agendas which may include destroying our democracy. What bothers me most is the technology available to the oppressors and the accusation of assault when all people are trying to do is keep from being pushed to the ground or are trying to save their clarinet.
Cynthis Phoenix on Hannah Arendt:
In her 1951 book The Origins of Totalitarianism, she explained that totalitarian systems don’t succeed by ideology but by destroying the ability to think critically. She wrote, "The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction no longer exists."
Arendt's warning was clear: totalitarianism thrives not by persuasion but by confusion and exhaustion, overwhelming people with lies until they give up on knowing what’s real. When truth is blurred, so are concepts like right and wrong, leaving people passive and easy to control. In her later work Truth and Politics, she explored how constant lying erodes the very idea of truth, leading to a breakdown in justice, morality, and dignity.
Arendt’s solution was "thinking"—actively questioning and engaging with information, not just accepting it. She stressed that the moment we stop critically evaluating narratives, even those we agree with, we lose. Totalitarianism starts in cynicism and exhaustion, and Arendt’s warning is more relevant than ever: Guard your capacity to think, demand evidence, and don’t let lies drown out the truth. If you stop caring about what's true, you've already lost everything that matters."
I agree with this. However, I do think that Snyder's narrative is useful simply because he has long studied how all this happened in Germany and eastern Europe. However, i am concerned about the overpowering amount of tech that the oppressors have. This is not cynical or unthinking; it is realistic.
The overpowering of America by technology has had me concerned for years. I believe smartphones have dumbed America down. In addition the media is controlled by the oligarchy who own the technology. People are being massively lied to, manipulated and lobotomized via technology. It is tragic.
But. We are learning. We are seeing the connections and are creating new megaphones, challenging their created realities and planning on a rebirth of Democracy. This is a matter of standing knee deep in shit while feeling optimistic. We will prevail.
As it should concern all of us. I find tech to be a double edged sword, useful in some kinds of research, but terrifying in it ability to keep track of all of us which is one of the reasons DOGE was so bad. And I already loathe A.I. in some ways. I hope you are right.
After that, I came across this interview with Judge Luttig which adds to my increasing anxiety about the future.
https://slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2025/11/from-trumps-tariffs-to-the-national-guard-and-ice-federal-courts-are-fighting-back
I just finished prof snyder’s post and I’m glad I didn’t read it before sleep. But I think we all kind of figured the danger(s) we are in for so many reasons
Attacks on the US right now seem almost inevitable. Terrifying disregard from this administration on human rights and rule of law.
Why are you people are really slow huh? Let me explain something to you really easily. Three magic letters is all it takes three magic letter. Y……E…..S…. And the government is open it’s almost like magic, but it’s so simple that even the it lol just like the commercial
By the way, and I’m gonna tell Betsy below also so she know New statistic just came out weight of an average woman in the United States 145 pounds weight of an average SNAP woman receiving benefits is a 212 pounds. Hmmmmm. Maybe not as urgent as an issue as you might think although it’s tongue in cheek. It’s pretty incredible.
Rick, you try so hard and you faceplant every time.
"“They were careless people,” Fitzgerald wrote, “they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”"
The current careless people running our country - especially Trump and his family and regime, the arrogant broligarchs, and the self-righteous right-wing Supreme Court Justices - appear to enjoy destroying things. After all, there's the Rapture to look forward to, or the dictatorship, or the massive profits, or the power, or all of the above.
Please get active with Indivisible.org or other democracy groups. Spread compassion and kindness. Use your voice to help make our country better. We are in this together, and there are more of us than them.
I’m sorry but I disagree. What they did was not just careless. It was diabolical and planned out to destroy our government’s functionality for “We the People”.
Yes, I agree. They are less casual than reckless, more purposeful. More rub it in your face purposeful.
The analogy is apt as they appear both careless and deliberate.
Fred, the quote is still apt, if we apply the proper definition of carelessness. Actions can be both diabolically planned and careless. The Miller/Vought regime are absolutely plotting to replace U.S. democracy with a white, theocratic oligarchy. They are careless, not in the sense of being reckless or not paying attention, rather, in the sense of not caring whom is harmed or killed as a result of their actions.
Lololol. Fred, you’re so paranoid…. You probably think that your name and address were on the plan.
This is certainly a good quote from Fitzgerald’s book and it parallels the actions of this administration; however the things being smashed up in this administration are far more serious than Fitzgerald imagined, and they are illegal. Good to hear from you Laurie of Oregon. You are spot on.
I wish I were wrong, Rudyard Kipling. What a horror.
He’s dead. Stop seeing dead people think there was a movie like that. Lololol
Try thinking about tomorrow and be optimistic. That’s the way to live your life.
Do you guys ever quote anybody alive? And please do not refer to Paul Krugman or Robert Reich as anyone alive nor Barack Obama who just made a speech apparently that just got recorded that you’d be interested to hear. Today’s society it’s not certain whether things are copied or duped, etc. so I’ll save it till it’s been validated. But you should check it out. It has to do with where Obama was really born.
Rick, the real question is not where Obama was really born. It is where were you really born.
Remember what we looked like when he last left office.
And Trump blamed everything Biden and his incredibly competent cabinet and staff fixed as being terrible for the country.
Just look at how much better infrastructure is in every state because Buttigieg and the Democrats supported, financed and constructed over 75,000 projects. One of the first things Trump did was to withhold funding for many of these projects that were already in progress.
If anyone mentions any of the Democrats successes and some of his Republican ones, he immediately cancels the program or defunds it no matter who gets hurt.
The OBBBA is full of cancellation of projects and now the Democrats are trying to claw back some of the health care cuts.
The OBBBA is arguably the worst bill ever passed. But Musk, Bezos, Thiel and many of the oligarchs love it.
The irony is that in the end Gatsby learns that ill gotten riches could not buy him love or acceptance into the world of old money aristocracy. Exactly the story of our dear leader. So his own people who set up this party were either really stupid or mocking him… the same way the President of South Korea presented him with a replica of a crown of a “dynasty” that “fell due to economic instability, high taxes and wealth inequality… and ended with a rebellion against the king.”
The king truly has no clothes.
Really? You think spreading compassion and kindness will get you out of this? Well - in this case I send you "thoughts and prayers" 😉
Spreading compassion and kindness will keep me sane and keep me from becoming like them, Sabine. What will get us out of this is working together strategically and cooperatively, much as Indivisible and other democracy groups advocate.
Laurie, don't let Sabine drag you down to her level. Sabine's entire body of commentary here indicates that she believes she is superior to Americans in every respect and has nothing but utter disdain for us, that we are all weak and stupid. I wouldn't characterize her as a troll, but she is definitely troll-adjacent.
Clearly, you've indicated that you're not a hand-wringing, emotional spectator, but also someone who takes action. Just ... without aggression.
People like Sabine – and Donald – think that's a sign of weakness. They are wrong.
Dale, I love "troll-adjacent." Great phrase. We also have to contend with the "willfully ignorant," but that's a whole other conversation. :- )
Oops Laurie. Best to skip this person.
Lovely thought, but personally, I would also work on a plan B.
Spreading compassion and kindness among the people IS the only way we will get out of this. That and strong resistance to the Trumpscum.
Muskrat was wrong when he said empathy was the downfall of Western Civilization. To be sure, we have many times failed to practice it domestically and abroad, but empathy holds civilizations together. Muskrat has it entirely wrong.
What you don’t realize TC which of course you never realize is, that’s exactly what Trump is doing right now spreading compassion and kindness amongst Americans who will now have job opportunities that pay more than their current job. Because he’s bringing jobs home. Tell your congress people just say yes the government opens snap gets financed and then you can discuss the broken promise that Obama made. That’s right he made a promise in the bill that the subsidies would end December of this year. No one else made that promise just Obama so if you have want someone to blame, blame him.
Yesterday, Billie Eilish donated $11 million or 1/4 of her wealth to feed the hungry. She implored the billionaire class to do the same. Most of them don't even donate 1% of their wealth to charitable causes.
I respect people that are compassionate and kind and I've grown to hate the fucking Fascists running this country because they have few redeeming qualities.
Well, here’s what I suggest to be, and I think you’re gonna like it support the current president and support America and the end result will be exactly what you wanted to be American success. The lowliest of people will be cared for the poorest will be cared for the mentally handicap will be cared for You just have to be a bit more optimistic.
Well, that’s lucky for you, my good Afterbirth, if the mentally handicapped will be cared for you might even have a chance to become a normal boy one day. 😊
Sabine, I’m making perfect sense just pretend it’s not me saying the following
The Republicans are not in control of snap right now. The Democrats are incomplete control of snap. Repeat after me exactly what I just said.
That’s the reality however much you might dislike me or hate me or whatever
All the Democrats have to do is say open the government and voilà. The government is open and snap benefits get sent out doesn’t get any simpler than that and that’s the fact and 100% facts if you wanna deny them you’re punishing your own citizenry
The Dems are not in government, hence they can’t close it down. You are just a complete idiot, that I neither hate nor dislike, I don’t put that much emotional effort in people who are not worth it. It’s not my country, you are one of those who destroy their own country.
But this was again just a bit of a waste of my time, because you’re just too thick to get it.
And the funny part of all this all you have to do is use an Internet search to see that it is very possible for one party to close down the government. But in your laziness, you think you know, but you’re wrong. Can you imagine for a second 1000 Americans come protesting at your government’s main federal building protesting the policies in your country carrying American flags ?!!! This is the epitome of stupidity and ignorance. And I get a kick out of it to be honest with you. You should worry about your country’s insignificance in the world and try to compare to that of the United States of America. Go protest there OK
Well, your poor dear, your ignorance of American government is your undoing. We are not destroying our own country. In fact we are salvaging our own country from the idiot that just left office non compos mentis but thank you for weighing in, but I’m guessing you should probably worry more about your own country not the leader of the free world.
In the meantime, there are two and a half major powers in the world
You are not amongst them. It’s actually a waste of your time being here in the first place. I don’t know why you’re not focusing on the hills and chills of your own country which needs that a lot more than we do.
In complete.
I totally agree, Laurie, but we also need to turn our thinking around and realize and say out loud, loudly, that the Trump administration is in active revolt against the Constitution. It is they who are the insurrectionists. It is they who are in a state of rebellion.
By the way you should thank the right wing justices as you call them although they’re not. They just did something you should be cheering… they sent abortion back to the voters instead of being decided by nine justices that you happen to like at the time.
Now the voters get to choose rather than partial what do you call them? Self-righteous. Yikes. How fickle we are. That’s called the doing of democracy, not called the undoing of democracy.
I have read The Great Gatsby several times, and each time I liked it less. The quotation that Heather included expresses my feelings about the book and the people it describes, and it's worth posting again here:
“They were careless people,” Fitzgerald wrote, “they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
Gatsby's people were not particularly mean or malicious people. They just didn't regard those outside of their small circle of the rich and greedy as being worth caring about. The didn't see a need to be careful of the damage they did to others.
The "careless" part describes the current regime, but many of those in charge are also particularly mean and malicious. They clearly rejoice in the pain that they cause and the damage that they do. For all of their protestation of being "pro-life," they carelessly approve of the wanton killing of those alleged to be drug dealers. In the past those allegations were investigated through interdicting suspected boats. Now, there seems to be no repercussions for just killing those on the boats. So those leading our country have gone far beyond not caring--they have purposely moved into illegality and immorality.
There is indeed a vast gulf between the vulgar hedonism of the 1920s and today's Trump nihilists. Carelessness and cluelessness just aren't the same as demagogic sociopathy and cruelty. We lack even the right historical comparisons to make. These aren't gilded age tycoons who built things -- they're malicious idiots who fooled millions into thinking they were serious, competent, worthy of trust. I will never be able to figure out how so many were fooled by so much that was literally staring them in the face. You didn't have to be Hercule Poirot to figure out what who these people were or what they would try to do once given power.
Yet the spell is beginning to break all around. Federal attorneys are resigning rather than carry out sham prosecutions, judges are ruling against them, a few Republican Senators are refusing to go along with their sham war in the Caribbean, Democrats are not breaking ranks, and citizens keep documenting their illegalities on our streets.
Even after flooding the zone (and us) with their shit, this wasn't how they imagined things would go. Let's make sure they receive yet another dose of unpleasant reality this coming Tuesday.
I'm here for it, ICTT. Donated. Voted very early in VA. Sent hundreds of postcards for others to do the same. Have signed up as a volunteer at the polls for November 4. And most importantly, if the election does not go my way, plan on being a whiny thorn in the side of any R who wins.
Like the “whiny thorn” Lynell. Will take it on with you. Currently writing postcards to Nashville for the December election of a congresswoman.
Good on you, Virginia! Thanks for the tip re Nashville. Have been on a pause after Nov. 4 onslaught, but postcarding is an addiction that I cannot say no to!
This current bunch are the ones seeking to be "borne" into that past, a past they have no experience of and thus have not earned a place in or a right to.
In addition to voting, we need to turn our thinking around and realize it is the Trump administration that is in a state of insurrection against the Constitution and against the law. And therefore, I suggest that leaders from all sectors: political leaders, governors, lawyers, union leaders, scientists, education leaders, corporate types, etc, put aside their differences and create a United Front, united in Opposition, speaking out every day, using social media and every other means of articulating Opposition and, together, creating a Strategic Plan to remove the entire Trump abomination. Not unlike what the colonists did some 250 years ago.
Big words bearing no meaning there it’s come to this. Support your president and your country. You know your fellow Americans voted for him to be president. I guess you hate your fellow Americans as well. Not a good place to be.
They were very sad characters just as the ones we are witnessing now. I do think jealousies will occur and feathers will fly. There’s always a crack in the sidewalk. Remember when Watergate happened? Those guys fumbled the ball…bigly! It’s just a matter of time when the house will begin to crumble. I have to believe that.
Marlene, you missed a big example of what you’re saying right now. It was called the Joe Biden administration and your post depicts it perfectly. I couldn’t have said it better myself except this crack was more like a crevass Try to compare what you just said with the Biden administration they did every single thing that you suggest pretty amazing huh?
Eternal payback will be a b---h. I am surprised the UN or someone affiliated hasn't reacted to this unprovoked criminal activity. Or maybe there is some subterranean move pending.
US strikes in Caribbean and Pacific breach international law, says UN ...
1 day agoAirstrikes carried out by the United States against alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific drew 🔻sharp criticism from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday who said they 🔹"violate international human rights law" and must 🔻stop immediately
Jay, did you see this about how Waltz, our rep to Cuba, was interrupted at the UN by the Cuban delegate? It is priceless! Check out this video from this search, the UN speech by Waltz that was interrupted by the Cuban delegatehttps://share.google/HnWhDjMeiNvQVafNI
Thanks for alerting me to that! “This is the U.N. assembly, not a Signal Chat” (paraphrased) YAHOO commenter said in response:
“ The fact that this man is so used to running off at the mouth about Repub agendas and trying to *sound false alarms* about things that don't exist that he would get up in front of the UN and try to do it say volumes about ⚡️how messed up the US government really is.”⚡️
I've wondered about that too. But, I believe we're on our own and don't have the time to wait for help from any outside entity.
Seriously felt the UN you’re actually looking for something sane from the UN
That building should be pushed into the ocean or go elsewhere with its bag full of hate.
💯💯💯
They’re at this point taunting the nation to do something. And they’ve always been like this. “Oh, my ‘I really don’t care, do you?’ jacket? That’s just a jacket. 😏💅”
Some have commented that the Jazz Agers were suffering from a kind of moral PTSD following the global carnage and indiscriminate destruction of the Great War. There is much to that - and having served in France, Fitzgerald knew something of what he wrote. Gatsby and other works he wrote of that period were not celebrations of it. For him, writing about it was a way of trying to come to terms with the personal demons that arose from it. He was not wholly successful in that.
Thanks Betsy. Your comment is a good critique, and it helps improve our debate.
You’re on a roll Betsy, the great Gatsby is dead as well. It’s 2025. You’ve lost a lot of years apparently.
So grateful for your continued diligence and thoughtful commentary, Heather. I send you loads of appreciation and gratitude and warmth for your amazing fortitude.
No one should be surprised by the fact that the convicted felon currently occupying the White House ignores the law - that has been his consistent behavior for many years. Is there any reason to expect a thug to obey any law?
so, WHAT DO WE DO (besides bitch about it) ??
We VOTE, and we do everything we can to help everyone we know also get out and VOTE! And if you’re capable in any way, run for something! The more of OUR people voted into elected office, the more power we have. And if you don’t feel called to run, then be a volunteer, as a poll watcher, or a solicitor. Get active, and involved.
Hey Danielle, you might wanna catch up. We voted.
Hey dickhead, there’s an election THIS TUESDAY! And many of us Americans voted early! Only a non-American would make a statement as ignorant as yours, dickhead!
We keep confronting Republicans about their treason and hope a few will regenerate a back bone, join with all the Democrats and impeach this foul creature as the first step in actually draining the swam.
p.
Thank you!
We need to form a national United Front in opposition to Trump. Leaders in all aspects of society need to join together and articulate the unity of the Opposition.
help at a food bank &/or donate food...
That sounds like a plan, as demand will definitely be greater than usual.
Isaac did you by any chance go to Beach High school? Isaac , here’s a hint if you want to really help your just tell them to vote yes and open the government and you don’t need to help at a food bank or donate food. You still could volunteer to do it, but it won’t be as necessary if you’re idiots in Congress just vote yes and Open the government. Nothing is gonna change until then and you’re gonna keep complaining and whining unless you do.
HEY!!! It's my favorite troll, Rick....whining about people whining in all his adolescent splendor....and providing a good laugh by marrying the words 'you're idiots'....here's a hint, Rickie...doesn't matter what high school you are going to...you sure aren't a happy kid...only someone wounded and hurting would do what you do...enjoy this attention...it's the last you'll be getting from me....you're idiots...man, I just love the irony....
Nikki that’s the best question that has been asked here and let me give you the subtle suggestion. Support your president and support America and things will turn out exactly the way you want them to be, but if you continue to be belligerent and irrational, it’s only gonna get worse for you but not for America.
Trump thinks he’s the law and government. He’s not. He and all citizens are subject to the Constitution and laws.
You don’t need for a president that supports the Jews more than any other president. Recent history should probably be appreciated more than you do. Unless you’re one of those self loathing, self deprecating Jews, like Mandy Patinkin, who is actually supporting Mamdani the person who asked for a Global Antifada .
If Johnson keeps them out of session, does the White House have to consult them? I think the White House is 100% OK with the shutdown.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it were at the President’s direction. Mike Johnson does everything he tells him to do. Trump even referred to himself as President and Speaker. I believe he thinks of Congress as merely an irrelevant irritation and totally unnecessary.
Johnson is ignoring the provisions in the Constitution about calling a recess at Trump’s order. Johnson and Christian Nationalists like him are whited sepulchers.
Yes. It is why Johnson has earned the moniker Howdy Dowdy Mike Johnson. He is trump's puppet.
These people are drunk with dangerous power! We need to quit bitching and DO SOMETHING.
Join "Indivisible" and your fellow citizens in the streets for NK III Nov. 5, I believe. The last one (Oct 18) was a 7 million + person fiesta of gentle but vociferous reaction to the thuggery going on...
Indivisible needs to use the great platform they have built to increase the number of rallies.. too many months go by between them; we need to have them every week
If you read Robert Hubbell's Today's Edition, he is highlighting the people who are out there constantly protesting, with or without Indivisible.
Morning, Lynell. We have an "every Monday at 10" protest that was organized by a senior living community; they can walk less than 3 blocks to the intersection. I've seen as many as 250 there.
Morning, Ally. Y'all in Oregon are terrific!
Check out their website. The promote local community events there.
Trump doesn't give a rat's patootie about opposition rallies. He will continue to do whatever he wants.
But members of Congress are a different kettle of fish. They are the people these actions are aimed at - to get them to the point where they think voter opposition is going to do them more harm than Trump can do.
What concerns me is that he will try to use the National Guard and the armed services to illegally attack peaceful protestors. He wants not one, but many Kent State type incidents. The effect would be more like Bloody Sunday in 1905:Russia and 1972 Northern Ireland.
We can’t allow fear to discourage us from using our voices and continuing to protest as the 1st Amendment allows.
I agree, but thought of two historic parallels Trump could recreate.
That is coming Kathy and that's why they are running a lot if dry runs in selected cities. Practice makes better.
Support Donald Trump that’s doing something that’s what Americans do Support their president and their country
That besmirched House is white in name only.
Sadly true.
Actually it’s not Lori actually Trump has been begging for the Democrats to open the government and all they have to do is find five votes and you might also know that the head of the House of Representatives has also said the same thing so please think before you post.
It is time, the walrus said to speak of many things, of boycotts and work stoppages, of cults and kings. I've heard of s test boycott from black Friday through Cyber Monday. Buy local and let the national chains know that in a consumer society, the consumer does have a say.
Also Trump wants Americans (and others) to BUY his way out of the economic downturn he is creating — so DON’T participate! Shop small local, thrift stores, reduce, reuse, recycle etc.
Many of us can’t afford to buy our way out of this mess, but a boycott would be worth trying.
The consumer had no say when Biden raised Price is 20% did you the consumer had no sales when Biden doubled the gas prices did you the consumer had no say when mortgage rates tripled under Biden did you? The Consumer had no say that because of Biden’s policies inflation went between seven and 9%. Where is your power then?
Support your president and all those things will get repaired
Outside of lying, can you offer any justification for the increase in prices across the board since 1/20/25?
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie the Fed and every other governmental agency post the increase in cost and inflation up 3% this year versus 7 to 9 on the on the Biden side. That's pretty much normal inflation anywhere from 2 to 3% a year. You might want to realize that I believe a year ago or two years ago under Biden Social Security increase was 8%.
I don't know what the hell you're thinking you think you can just stop inflation dead and its track yep, I ams
It would take me a couple paragraphs and I'm in a rush right now, but you are lostMy dear. And by the way, gas prices are down over a dollar .50 a gallon egg prices are down 60% and gasoline helps control all other prices so be patient it only took Joe Joe Biden three months to to do what I mentioned above oooops
Let me cut to the core. The present situation revels that the intent is to establish a CEO-IN-CHIEF and corporate rule with a government as corporation. The primary question I have is what every corporation has to answer "What is the product of the corporation?" If the answer is not a simple sentence, then the people operating the company do not know what their business is. So what should be the business of a government as corporation?
What you just answered here is called obfuscating. The prices that you were suffering right now or a continuation of the administration previous to that and you need to put that in your pipe and smoke it. You ignore gas prices, which are central to the current significance of any society.
And your negative in advance prognostications are exactly that.
This government is running substantially more efficiently than the previous one and many previous ones cutting through red tape to make things happen is not corporation. It is called efficiency. And like most of you liberals today you are some of the most negative pessimistic angry human beings on the planet.
My suggestion would be Support your president and your country and things will turn around instead of fighting needlessly and I'm not saying giving up. I'm saying nothing bad is happening with this country and you continually refuse to answer to fax such as Barack Obama time not to be renewed, but to end, are you familiar with that term?
Subsidies ending is the term terminating gone no more that comes from a Barack Obama no matter how much you would like to blame anyone else
And we're $37 trillion in debt. How do you think we got there by the way one of the most effective presidents and stopping that was Mr. Bill Clinton himself who fired a half 1 million federal employees and deported another 10 million. And stood there on the White House lawn with Al Gore, saying we're spending too much money.
So if your local radical governments stop spending money on illegals and illegal immigration. We would have a lot more money to help remove homelessness, poverty, and possibly bring people back to better health.
In California alone, they've spent in the last three years over $30 billion billion with a B for housing food, shelter, and medical care illegals. And who do you blame on that for?
So place your blame appropriately try supporting this president and things will get better for everyone, including those on snap including those who need subsidy renewal. It will happen but not the way it's happening now.
Your verbose response is like a you are behind the steering wheel of a vehicle travelling at high velocity with the all the windows painted black. Somewhere down the road there will be an unmovable object that will effect rapid declaration. My question to you is do you believe that you have sufficient resources and circumstances to survive the revolution from a government by and for the people to one that excludes everyone but they oligarchs?
This administration started by focusing greed and racism. But now they have moved on to all out war on everyone. They are the party of lies, corruption, suffering, starvation and death. They celebrate these accomplishments with lavish parties supported by those who can bring them gold.
So, WHAT DO WE DO ??
We vote. We rally. We phone, write postcards, and get lots of sleep to be ready for November 5th.
We calmly but firmly tell the truth, even in difficult situations.
https://indivisible.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/20220104_Indivisible_%20A%20Practical%20Guide%20to%20Defeating%20MAGA.pdf
Keep screaming that question, Nikki.
Any answer I could give at this point would likely draw unwelcome scrutiny at this time. MAGA trolls abound.
But keep asking the question.
What country do you live in? Certainly is an America please tell us.
I added a calendar on my spreadsheet so we can target our calls/letters/emails/faxes to flood offices in an organized manner.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Nokings) as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. We deserve better ❤️🩹🤍💙
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
There were 25 article of impeachment as of a couple weeks ago on
ImpeachTrumpAgain.org ...
Calling my members of Congress, I have been demanding that they read these articles into the Congressional record.
Ooooooooooh…. Yeah, you know what the first two impeachments were pretty effective huh the only way they were effective was that somebody had invented disease globally in order to get him out of office otherwise he’d still be there
IMHO, Trump's game plan on SNAP seems to be as follows. No matter what the court orders, he will delay the disbursement of SNAP benefits as long as possible. A lot of seniors and low income people are going to get awfully hungry but to Trump, they're just another "expendable" pawn in the crusade to become King.
In all my years, I've never seen such depravity.
Neither have I, but it’s what to expect from a sociopath like Trump.
Hey idiot all the Democrats have to do is say yes and snap gets back in action. What the hell is the matter with your thinking? Are you doubling down on stupid if the Democrats voted yes snap opens up. The Republicans want it open. Yikes.
But the funniest thing I heard today was a statistic that indicated that the average weight of an American woman is 142 pounds whereas the average weight of a snap recipient woman is over 200 pounds hmmmmm
Hey idiot, all the republicans have to do is agree to provide health care to Americans. For some people, the ability to see a doctor is important! Imagine that, money for health care and less subsidies for billionaires. Stop watching FOX TV moron.
I was about to make the same observation. Squirrel! Squirrel! Release the Epstein files.
This is what the shutdown is all about. The Epstein Files. Not just finally getting to take away the ACA subsidies or being responsible for the despicable acts of starving our most vulnerable, but not allowing the newly elected Adelita Grijalva from Arizona to be sworn in. She would be the deciding vote to release the files. We all know why they don't want the files released. And, even when the files are finally released, who knows what we will get, redacted, rewritten worthless words?
The OVERALL CONTEXT of the Trump administration is... IGNORE THE LAW... DO WHAT WE WANT TO DO AND LET THEM TRY TO STOP US AFTERWARDS. This is a MIRROR of Trump's life-long psychological illness: He was NEVER held accountable for anything he did (including lying to avoid the Vietnam War draft). Dr Bandy X. Lee is an expert on Trump's psychology. I highly recommend all follow her on Substack to understand why Trump WILL NEVER OBEY ANYONE... unless he knows he will lose money or power by doing so. https://substack.com/@bandyxlee
Well, it appears that we may have arrived. Johnson has ceded the Congress’ rights to appropriate funds, levy tariffs, approve treaties, and now, declare war. How is it that the GOP members of Congress don’t realize they’ve been reduced to rubble, just like the East Wing of the White House?
If the USA has the mightiest military in the world why on earth can’t they stop search and
Arrest these people and seize drugs if there are any??? Why is it necessary to kill everyone?? This has to be wrong and totally against the law!
It's all about theater, 'Smoking them'. The theme of ACT 1 is 'Some lives don't matter at all'.
Expect ACT 2 to be 'More lives don't matter' and I think that's one of the points in this Letter's quoting F Scott Fitzgerald.
Stop quoting history and do something. Call your Congress people and say hey if you want to snap people to eat, your party is in control of that. End of sentence.